新婚不久，鵜原憲一便拋下年輕妻子禎子消失在嚴寒的北陸禎子踩著丈夫的足跡，卻意外踏進了他心中的禁忌之地。然而隨著禎子的深入，卻帶來了接二連三的死亡……丈夫究竟去了哪裡？真凶又是何人？那隱藏在狂吹不止的暴風雪、狂暴翻騰的黑暗巨浪之下的悲哀真相到底是什麼？

在东京北千住一处能看见烟囱的袜子批发店，绪方和弘子两夫妻过着简朴的生活。在房间二楼，有久保和仙子两位租客。一天，绪方家走廊上放着一个小孩，他们平静的生活也因此而掀起波澜……

Charged with leading demonstrations for the democratization movement, student activist Kim Gi-young (Moon Sung-keun) is a fugitive from the law. He sneaks into a mining village on the verge of being shut down, with a fake ID in hand. Feeling frustrated with the current state of activism, which centers around the intelligentsia, he gets a job as a man-of-all-work at a coal factory and meets the motley inhabitants of the mining village. Dae-sik (Yang Jin-yeong) works to support his family in place of his father, who is in prison for instigating a strike. Detective Kang (Lee Su-chan) always keeps a sharp eye on everything that goes on in the village. Then there are strike organizer Cheon Do-seong (Kang Neung-won), fellow worker Jeong (Hwang Hae), Taek's mother (Kim Kyung-ran), and Sun's mother (Jo Ju-mi). Sung-cheol (Park Joong-hoon), whose father is a local bigshot and the owner of the coal factory, lords it over the neighborhood bars and cafes. Angry at his father (Park Kyu-chae) for leaving his mother and marrying another woman, Sung-cheol vents his resentment on the cafe girls and factory workers. Meanwhile, Young-sook (Shim Hye-jin), who works as a prostitute at the local cafe, is becoming fed up with Sung-cheol's violent and demeaning treatment of her. When she meets Gi-young, who is reserved but warm, she begins to have feelings for him and stops selling sexual favors. As the impending miners' strike darkens the horizon, Gi-young and Young-sook fall in love and enjoy each other's company. Then one day, Sung-cheol receives news of his mother's death and wreaks havoc at the cafe. When Young-sook refuses to satisfy his demands, he starts to beat her up. Gi-young tries to stop him, but his intervention brings him to the attention of Detective Kang and he is hauled off to the police station. Gi-young undergoes torture at the hands of the police, but he is eventually cleared of all charges and released. When he finally comes to through Young-sook's devoted care, he tells her that he is a wanted fugitive. His identity is soon exposed and he is forced to run once more. Young-sook decides to leave the village with him, and heads to the cafefor her things. While making her last coffee delivery, Young-sook runs into Sung-cheol, who tries to stop her from leaving. She ends up killing him, and is dragged off by the police as Gi-young waits for her at the train station.

田文军（黄渤 饰）和鲁晓娟（郝蕾 饰）曾是一对恩爱的夫妻，然而，两人之间的感情却被时间和争吵消耗殆尽，最终，他们选择了离婚。如今，联系着两人的唯一枢纽，就是可爱的儿子田鹏。然而，某一天，这唯一的纽带也断裂了，田鹏于一次外出玩耍时无故失踪，绝望和崩溃之中，田文军与鲁晓娟踏 上了漫漫寻子之路，并在途中结识了许多和他们一样无助的父亲和母亲们。时光匆匆流逝，一条关于田鹏的线索浮出水面，促使田文军和妻子来到了一处偏僻的村落之中，在那里，他们看到了酷似田鹏的男孩，然而，男孩口中的“妈妈”却并非鲁晓娟，而是一位名叫李红琴（赵薇 饰）的村妇，这错位的一切究竟是怎么回事？