The Strelzyk and Wetzel families live in the GDR and want to leave. In the summer of 1979, after two years of hard work, Peter, his wife Doris and their two children, as well as Günter and Petra and their two sons, finally set off on their escape attempt in a home-made hot air balloon. But their escape from their home in Thuringia ends just before the inner-German border when the balloon crashes. The two families work feverishly to build a new balloon, as the Stasi has now caught on to them and begins its investigation. The GDR secret police still don't know where the balloon crashed, but the noose is tightening. A merciless race against time begins ...