[4] The film takes place in Moscow between late 1952 and early 1953, during Stalin’s final months and the height of the anti-Semitic "Doctors’ Plot."
Philosophy professor Pavel Kazimirovich (Andrey Smolyakov), openly critical of Marxism, and his aristocratic wife Angelina Fedorovna (Irina Rozanova) struggle to adapt to Soviet life.
Their daughter Dina (Yuliya Snigir), a bright and beautiful woman, marries Boris (Alexander Ustyugov), a Communist metro construction worker and war veteran.
The communal apartment is home to a diverse group of residents, including a Jewish doctor (Leonid Yarmolnik) and his family, who must navigate the pervasive anti-Semitism of the era.
Dina encounters Ivan (Alexander Kuznetsov), an MGB officer with a tragic past, sparking a brief romance that hints at the possibility of renewal.