"Syphon" is a 12-year-old lonely schoolboy who lives in one of Budapest's run-down industrial districts. He is hungry for love, sees the good in everyone, and never judges. He devotes a great deal of love to caring his grandmother, who once was a prima donna but is now a wrecked alcoholic in need of constant care. He also turns with kindness toward a newly met pregnant Roma girl, helping her dispose of her stillborn baby. He even feels affection for the detective who is investigating him - because in the meantime he has killed one of his classmates.