1985 follows friends Marc and Franky, and his sister Vicky, in the turbulent 1980s. Marc and Franky move to Brussels for a career with the Gendarmerie. Soon the three young people are sucked into a spiral of crimes that are attributed to the so-called “Bende van Nijvel” gang.

Following a major catastrophe, a new society, Arcadia, is born. Resources have become scarce and a point system, known as the Citizen Score, is introduced. It determines what you can and may do and what a citizen is entitled to.