After many years abroad, Georg Bachler returns to his home village. There, old rivalries with his brother Otto, who has now risen to become the village emperor, quickly resurface. Otto's ambitious plans are just as much a reason for this as Georg's old love, Lisa, whom Otto hopes to marry, and not just for love.

The death of Ottakring's last godfather and the encounter with a very clever young woman unintentionally turn the clever crook Sammy into the business-minded driving force of an Austrian parallel world in the midst of the global economic crisis.