Three siblings ingeniously avoid being sent off to a children's home while their solo-mother serves a short sentence in a prison for shoplifting. Rather than have the news leak out and have to be escorted off with the eccentric welfare officer, they invent a 'never present' dad who is looking after them.

影片根据真实事件改编，讲述了二战丹麦被德国占领期间，以菲尔家族为首的一群丹麦人反抗纳粹统治的故事。他们为此付出了鲜血和生命的代价，也为丹麦人留下了一笔巨大的精神财富。
影片2012年在丹麦上映后，破纪录地动员到120万人次前来观看，战胜了众多好莱坞大片成为当年的票房冠军。自从1976年以来，丹麦总共只有12部影片能够突破75万票房人次的大观，本片是最近的一部。