In 1951 Communist-era Budapest, the secret police knock on the door of an ordinary family. Instead of arresting them, they decide to move in and hold the family captive in their own home, along with anyone who comes to visit them.

During their robbery of a nightclub, Matthias Caruana and Kyle Borg kill the son of the owner. While fleeing from the scene with an accomplice, they have a car accident. All three manage to escape from the vehicle just before it bursts into flames but the stolen money is lost in the fire. Dave McBain is at home secretly having an argument on the phone with someone. When he finishes the call, he leaves the house. Now hunted by the police, the three robbers enter McBain's house and take his wife and children, the six-year-old Thomas and sixteen-year-old Alice, as hostages. While the wound that Matthias suffered during the car accident threatens to upset the balance of power within the criminal gang, thereby allowing Kyle, the most violent of the three, to dominate. Problems begin for the hostages.