Laurel, an enterprising loan shark and investor, has a whole metropolis under his control. He manipulates everyone from judges to skinheads. Everything in his life is so calm and predictable, when suddenly his moneylenders are robbed in broad daylight by three men in masks of fairy beasts. The town is immediately surrounded by a red line. Crossing it is an immediate death sentence. Laurel himself leads the investigation of the collectors. He does not allow them to eat, but he allows them to drink alcohol. He divides the collectors according to their traits: Bold, Cynical, Coward, Good, Evil. The Bold is the first to go over the red line. He is buried in the pouring rain. Laurel then demands that the rest of them gather at the bar for a further showdown. At the bar, Laurel morally presses Coward. Mocking Good and philosophizing with Cynic. The pressuring of the collectionists does not end day or night. All this leads to a conflict between Kind and his wife, Nadine. Laurel arranges a public trial of Evil. Raising the slogan, "End Evil!" A mob that has been wound up tries to kill Evil right in the courtroom. Skinheads pile into the bar, where another night of questioning is taking place. They are served by a dark-skinned guy named Jesus. The gang leader decides to crucify Jesus. The good one volunteers to save the guy. He is helped by Cynic, Evil. Jesus is saved. But the death of the collectors is unavoidable. Laurel realizes this and intervenes. Shooting over a dozen skinheads. Beaten half to death, Evil decides to cross the red line. It seems to everyone that he is gaining his freedom. But then a shot is fired and Evil is killed. Three exhausted men drag the coffin with Evil, often dropping it. Once again the gathering in the drinking room and again the unbearable pressure from Laurel and his guards. At one point, Cynic claims that Laurel will never get his money. Cynic informs him that he denies not only the money, but life itself. Laurel kills Cynic by stabbing him through the heart. Laurel now puts the coward on trial and publicly burns him at the stake under the gaze of a cheering crowd. Kind, half-conscious, is taken to the bar, where he is revived by an old Negro. Having come to his senses he realizes that all the preceding is some kind of illusion, but in fact he is Sergei, and he is engaged in bilking money out of debtors at Laurel's. It is he who conceives with the help of his friends to rob Laurel. This is where the true, highly dynamic story of Laurel's robbery begins...
