Bavarian small town Weiler is impoverished since the only major employer, a plant, shut down, so locals seeks any alternative income. Worst off is Hubertus Hochstetter, whose bookie is so violently impatient that he even robs his still doting model son Daniel's school trip savings. Arguing in the car, they hit an electricity pole, which electrocutes two pensioners, including grandpa Cajetan Hochstetter, whose pension was their last reliable income. Hubertus decides to hide the corpses in the abandoned salt mine and hires nearby rest home pensioner Johannes Tiefenbach, physically resembling, as stand-in so they can share the pension. Two neighbours resort to a similar ploy, but the actors must be coached, have boundaries and scruples, or prove too greedy. So the web of lies gets ever more entangled, especially after the arrival of wealthy 'Prussian' couple Wolfi and Kicki Trost, followed by more shady killings.