Abused by her parents and dejected by her bleak existence in an impoverished village of the Zsil River Valley, a twelve year-old girl finds just how much worse things can get after determining that she would be better off on her own. Iska (Maria Varga) is a young girl who earns money for her family by scavenging for metal, coal, and other various valuables in the rubble surrounding her village. When Iska returns home empty-handed one day after unwisely bargaining with a buyer, her parents punish her with a sound thrashing. Though she hesitates at the thought of leaving her sick sister Rozsika (Rozsika Varga) behind, Iska furtively slips out of the family home to seek out a better life elsewhere. A short stay in the well-intended but woefully inadequate orphanage system does little to ease the frightened child's fears for the future, and though things begin to look up when Iska plans a seaside escape with friendly boy Marian (Marion Rusache) things soon take a turn for the worse when Iska is kidnapped by deviants who run a child prostitution ring.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide