Maté is a gifted runner, and views winning a forthcoming race as his ticket out of poverty in a town without employment or prospects. His father is in prison, his older brother Joci is his guardian and a small-time crook, hanging around with a gang of losers and stealing low-value items from the shop where Maté works. The gang witness the theft of a statue for scrap metal and are arrested by corrupt police to meet performance targets. Enter Acs, a motorcycling new police chief. Acs offers to teach the youths how to earn back respect. He trains them in martial arts and gets them fit, then gradually makes them indispensable. They help businesses with security and, in return, are equipped as a militia. Their increasing authority leads them to drive out criminals and drug dealers, but also causes a rift between Maté and Tibi, his trainer, and Tibi's daughter Anita, with whom Maté has started a relationship. Meanwhile Acs has seduced the mayor of the town, then stands for election to replace her after exposing her corruption. As Acs' grip on power grows, Maté realises what he has lost and how the militia is becoming as crooked as the people it ousted. The stage is set for confrontation on many levels.