"The angst suffered by low-income adolescents living in a tiny country town where fun comes from marching in the town band and holding Sunday afternoon contests to see whose pet finch can chirp the loudest provides the basis for this raw, slow-paced drama. Freddy is almost 20 but still lives with his mother, who runs a local cafe. The brightest spot in the lad's life is his sexual relationship with Marie, a cashier. When not trysting with her, he rides about with his mates on motor scooters. As Freddy occasionally suffers from paralyzing bouts of epilepsy, this is a risky thing to do. He does go in for treatment, but he doesn't like it. Trouble comes when the son of a recently-arrived Arab family sets his sights on the possessive Freddy's girl Marie."