Anton (Persbrandt) - recently separated from his wife, Marianne (Dyrholm) - is a doctor living between his home in idyllic Denmark and an African refugee camp. Their son, Elias (Rygaard) is a regular target of the bullies at school, until a new arrival, Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), rescues him one day.

Christian has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), following the death of Christian's mother, and quickly forms a strong bond with Elias. When Anton is insulted and embarrassed by the father of another child at the school, Elias is torn between a desire for vengeance, and a waning belief that his father did the right thing by not reacting with violence. Unfortunately Christian, a powder keg of grief and denial, steadily leads Elias on a path of revenge against the man who humiliated his father; a path that inevitably leads to tragic consequences for everyone concerned.

Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Academy Awards, In a Better World delves into the complexities of morality and the consequences of violence, forcing viewers to constantly re-evaluate what the 'right thing' to do is in volatile situations such as those faced by the film's characters. When do we walk away and when do we stand up for ourselves? Where do we draw the line?