A single mother enters a dark lifestyle after facing economic difficulties. Meanwhile her eldest son has to take care of his younger brother because of the absence of their mother and gets into trouble with the town's feared bully, while trying to help to get some money to help his mother. Afterward, he uncovers a road leading to an underwater utopia.
A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them...
Pusis pabeidz skolu un sapņo kļūt par gleznotāju, tomēr viņa vecāki liek iet mācīties. Meklējot atbildi uz dzīvē svarīgāko jautājumu galvenais varonis satiek personāžu, kurs palīdz viņam pieņēmt lēmumu.