Leevi returns to Finland from his university studies in Paris to spend the summer helping his father Jouko renovate the family lakehouse for sale. Leevi is estranged from his conservative father, his only living relative, and hopes to avoid mandatory military service by obtaining French citizenship. Tareq, an architect by profession who has come to Finland from war-torn Syria seeking asylum, has been hired to help with the work. When Leevi's father returns to town on business, the two young men, speaking English, their only common language, establish a connection. They spend a few days discovering one another during an idyllic Finnish midsummer.<ref name=europa></ref><ref name=mfa></ref>