Set in 1860s Holland along the famed Zeider Zee — young Hans Brinker finds himself responsible for supporting his family after his father becomes injured in an accident. He and his sister, Gretel, travel to Amsterdam in search of funds to help pay for their father's operation. Their only hope lies in the city's annual ice skating race in which Hans must face off against his arch-rival, Ludwig Schimmel, in hopes of winning the prize money.

Charlie Gedelius has spent the last years abroad as a golf trainer. In Copenhagen, Denmark, he meets young Lena, who happens to be his brother-in-law's mistress. He goes back to Sweden to meet his sister Astrid. Her son Staffan has borrowed money from a money-lender to pay for an abortion for a girl he has met.