In Yorkshire, Johnny lives on the family farm with his father, Martin, and grandmother, Deirdre. Due to his father's having suffered from a stroke, and his grandmother's age, much of the day-to-day running of the farm falls to Johnny. In his social time, Johnny engages in binge drinking and furtive sexual encounters with other men. Returning late to the farm after such an encounter with a young auctioneer, he is berated by his father because a calf has died from a breech birth in his absence.