一座被外国军队占领的城市,由于粮食短缺,人民生活艰难困苦,一位年轻妇女只好带着双胞胎儿子们投靠住在乡间的母亲。这位“外婆”不仅不识字、骯脏、吝啬、凶恶,甚至是一名凶手。两兄弟在艰困的环境中成长,为了让自己变得坚强,两人每日以互相打骂对方、绝食等各种方式锻炼生存本领。他们将每天发生的事情仔细记载在一本大笔记本中。随着日记一页页被翻开,一场冷酷的梦魇式寓言也逐步呈现。The Nazis have invaded Hungary and war is raging in the main cities. To avoid it, a woman leaves her thirteen-year-old twin boys at their grandmother's place in the countryside. The children don't know their grandmother, a dirty, miserly, and mean old woman who barely allows them inside the house. Left to their own devices, the two children learn to cope with hunger, the cold, and the everyday cruelty in a devastated country. To protect themselves, the twins reject all moral codes and values and instead take their lessons from the evil around them in order to try to survive. The siblings studiously note, as objectively as possible, their discoveries and their burgeoning knowledge in a notebook.