Mathieu Roussel, director of the Alliance française in Irkutsk, Siberia, works to promote the French language and francophone culture in the area.

Roussel is unexpectedly forcefully removed from his home and charged by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) with dissemination of child pornography on the Internet and molesting his own daughter.

Roussel obtains prohibited telephone SIM cards from Svetlana, a woman who believes in his innocence and hates her father-in-law Rostov, head of the FSB.

Roussel covers his ankle bracelet with aluminum foil to stop it from tracking and heads to the bus station.

Roussel's photo is shown on TV and his neighbors report him, so he flees and escapes into Moscow with the help of a priest who claims to be the bishop of the patriarch of Moscow in order to stop a search and prevent Roussel from being found in the trunk of his car.

Roussel attempts to escape amid a loud celebration being held at the embassy but is spotted by Sagarine.

Some similarities remain, for instance Barbereau was also the director of the Alliance française in Irkutsk, and was charged with disseminating child pornography and abusing his own daughter, only to escape from prison.

[8] Reviewer Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The power of the film lies in how it crafts excitement out of a granular understanding of Russian state brutishness and the degree of determination it will require to evade it.

"[4] Reviewer Michael Nordine of Variety called the film "cold but competent, which, whether intentional or not, is ultimately apropos of the subject matter.