The film was one of the biggest Swedish box-office hits ever, grossing over $6 million,[1] and received two Guldbagge Awards for Best Direction (Kjell Sundvall) and Best Supporting Actor (Lennart Jähkel).

Erik (Rolf Lassgård), a Stockholm police officer, reunites with his relatives upon the death of his abusive father in Norrbotten, where his brother Leif (Lennart Jähkel) still lives.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress after justifiably killing a man while on duty, Erik has been transferred to the local field office.

Erik soon starts to suspect that his brother's friends, led by the half-Finnish Tomme (Jarmo Mäkinen), are involved in large-scale illegal hunting of reindeer and moose.

Erik is frustrated by the local police's unwillingness to deal with the problem, but as events unfold he discovers illegal weapons in Tomme's car outside a pub and decides to intervene.

Pursuing a big raid to recover the lost income, Tomme accidentally shoots and kills a Russian bilberry worker.

Unaware that the murder of the woman has been seen by Ove, a kind but intellectually disabled childhood friend of Erik's, the five men decide to keep silent instead of going to the police.

Unable to prove that Ove was murdered, Erik is forced to find the rifle used to shoot the Russian to secure a conviction for this killing.