36-year-old Stela has higher education but unable to keep a job. Since she was 12, she's been in love with a Serbian musician from the former Yugoslavia. One of the musician's alleged mistresses promises Stela that she will help her meet her idol.

Adi, a young anthropologist recently left by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari (the poorest neighborhood in Bucharest) to write a study on manele music (the pop music of the Roma community). While researching his subject, he meets Alberto, a Roma ex-convict who promises to help him. Soon, the two begin a romance in which Adi feeds Alberto improbable plans to escape poverty while Alberto reciprocates with well-concocted phrases of love. When the money runs out, both find themselves trapped in an apartment where they love and use each other, in a game of need and power that has no winners.