Memo Kemal Sunal returns from Germany to his village in southeast Turkey in the 1980s, having saved enough money to marry his love Cano Pembe Mutlu. The village—especially Memo's mother, Cano, and the village leader, the Ağa İhsan Yüce—press him to kill the man who murdered his father, though the culprit remains in jail. Memo pleads that if the killer is freed, he will fulfill his duty.
On the day of the wedding, Sülo Şener Şen, the killer of Memo’s father, is released from prison. The crowd waits for Memo to carry out the revenge, but he does not want to take another human life, even one who has already taken his father. Instead, Memo and Sülo hatch a plan to fool the village by staging Sülo’s death. The scheme backfires, and Memo is charged with murder because the villagers believe Sülo died at Memo’s hand.
The two men end up on the same bus to the town while being chased by the law. The bus is halted by bandits, and their leader Bekiro Sırrı Elitaş recognizes Memo, pulling him away to a mountain hideout so he won’t face jail. Sülo is also taken along, since Memo shows him a form of pity. In the mountains, Memo gradually slips into the bandit lifestyle, while Sülo remains mostly in a subordinate role, doing the chores and receiving little reward.
Bekiro hints at a larger treasure when he warns Memo about a vase stuffed with money hidden among the bushes. Memo wrestles with the idea of betraying his old friend, but loyalty remains a powerful force. After a lull in danger, Bekiro cannot bear the loneliness and the distance from his wife back in town, and he tries to bring Memo and Cano back together by infiltrating the village.
The bandits’ operation is uncovered by the police, who wipe out the group except for Memo, who is captured again for the murder of Sülo. While Memo sits in jail, Sülo engineers a breakout to show Memo where the vase of money is hidden. The plan works, and the two escape with the treasure, heading to Istanbul to lay low while Memo remains a wanted man in his village.
In Istanbul, trust frays between Memo and Sülo as money changes hands and temptations mount. Sülo finally steals the entire fortune from Memo and spends it on lavish dinners, drink, and company. Memo catches up with Sülo in a tavern and drags him back to his hotel room to confront him for the betrayal.
Memo then receives a letter from Cano revealing that the Ağa intends to marry Sülo’s wife, who is technically a widow because of Sülo’s “death.” The idea of that marriage fuels a desperate plan: Sülo intends to kidnap his wife, but Memo warns that such an act would reveal that Memo never truly killed his father’s killer. Still, Sülo makes it to the village with the intention to seize Cano, though the town would soon learn the truth.
In the end, Memo learns that the drive behind the Ağa’s demand to kill the murderer was to secure Cano’s future by removing the obstacle of the true killer. Memo decides to use the money to pay off the villagers’ debts, freeing them from the Ağa’s control. With a sense of resolution and a new beginning, Memo returns to the mountains—not alone this time, but with Cano by his side as his wife.
