波皮（莎莉·霍金斯 Sally Hawkins 饰）已经三十岁了，她是个普通的小学教师，没有房子，没有存款，仍旧单身，不再年轻也就不再漂亮……但是与沮丧现实相反的，是波皮极端乐观的个性，她明媚开朗得像涉世未深的孩子，甚至在一些外人眼里亢奋得不大正常。她练习蹦床，却遭到肌  肉拉伤，方知自己年龄已经不适合这项运动，只好改学弗拉门戈舞；她去学车打算考驾照，却因为表现得太过活泼亲热，引来严肃的学车教练斯考特（艾迪·马森 Eddie Marsan 饰）愤怒爆发，认为她在挑逗他……波皮“无忧无虑”的性格，不符合年龄的乐观，似乎已经与周围的一切格格不入……

　　Following a court appearance for drunk driving, Leo is required to perform unpaid work as a punishment, assisting AJ, a community worker on a run-down,largely black-occupied housing estate in South London. AJ is hoping to divert boys away from crime by encouraging them to do sports, and, though initially dismissive of Leo as a white intruder, comes to respect him after he has saved the life of Errol, a former gang member now anxious to keep his little brother Levi out of trouble. Errol has been stabbed in the leg by members of a gang from a rival estate and Leo stops him from bleeding to death. Earlier in the week a young girl called Shana Block was stabbed to death at a funfair and her murder recorded on a mobile phone. As Shana lived on the estate police sergeant Wallace involves Leo as a go-between with the suspicious residents. Also on the scene are Harry and Nikki, the latter dating Ryan, a young Scottish paramedic she met when called to the scene of Shana's death.