Just in the nick of time, a handful of lucky passengers manage to catch the last Christmas Eve ferry to the North Sea island of Föhr, all buzzing with anticipation for the holidays. But halfway through the journey, disaster strikes: the ferry runs aground, trapped fast in the thick mudflats. Forced together by fate, the wildly different passengers must find a way to get along and make the best of it.
Among those stranded on board are Santa Claus Thomsen, eagerly awaited by the island's children, and Pastor Harms, who is supposed to deliver the big sermon at the historic island cathedral. There are two lonely souls from Hamburg, who only met in a supermarket just hours before boarding. And then there is Beeke, a local who has just returned from Martinique, longing for a cozy, stormy island Christmas - though she is being watched closely by a senior prosecutor who is investigating her for a very good reason. Meanwhile, out in the island marshlands, local police officer Ralf scrambles to find a bizarre substitute for the cathedral sermon. But how can the grand Christmas Eve party happen without the festive food locked away on the ferry? Ultimately, out on the freezing sea, one of the most unusual and beautiful Christmas Eves of all time unfolds.
