Aranyélet

The Miklósi family have a life anyone would envy. The father, Attila, is a prosperous entrepreneur; the mother, Janka, does voluntary work at a charity for the homeless. Mira, their daughter, is top of her class and even the rebellious black sheep, Márk, is talented and is planning a career as a rapper. Their easy living, however, is just an illusion. It conceals some very well-kept secrets – they have a massive bank debt, their luxurious villa actually belongs to a friend in gangland, and they maintain themselves by all kinds of tricks. When things start getting too much for Attila and he resolves to mend his ways, the family's idyll is shattered. As we see, everyone has different ideas about how they want to get on in life.

In the smash-hit first season of the series, the Miklósi family lived a life of apparent luxury, although their affluence was actually derived from the father's repertoire of dodgy capers and scams. When Attila made up his mind to go straight, however, everything was turned upside down. It soon emerged that everyone had different plans for the future, and the family fell apart. In season two, the Miklósis have to start over from scratch. Or maybe from a point that is even lower than that. Each is haunted by the past and none of them can put off facing up to the consequences of the decisions they once made any longer. Why did Attila choose to leave the straight and narrow path all those years ago and is there still any prospect of his being able to start afresh with a clean slate? What is the price that Janka is willing to pay to maintain their standard of living? Can the examples set by their parents ever be erased from Márk and Mira's minds or has the chance of becoming normal teenagers been denied them forever? The members of the family must now deal with more serious problems than ever before. An old friend, believed to be long-dead, reappears in Attila's life, although it soon transpires that he is not what he seems. Ever since he turned over a new leaf, Janka has been unable to respect her husband and now she determines to make an irreversible move. Márk starts his own business, but rashly takes too great a risk. Mira finds love and then instantly loses it again, resorting to desperate means in an attempt to come to terms with her hurt. How can we live with our guilt? How can we deal with our responsibility? Through the story of the Miklósi family, the profusion of opportunities in post-communist Hungary is revealed alongside the disappointments in store and the possibilities for starting a new. (HBO Europe)