[1] The title in Russian is ambiguous and can also mean "Little Faith," symbolizing the characters' lack of hope (or a glimmer thereof).

The film's main character and namesake is a teenage girl, who just having finished school feels trapped in her provincial town.

[7] The soundtrack's main theme consists of two songs performed by Sofia Rotaru[8] "Bylo no proshlo" (It Was, But It Has Gone) and "Tol'ko etovo malo" (Only This Is Not Enough), "the leitmotif of the perestroika classic Little Vera".

[10] Her parents want her to apply for university, but at the moment she prefers going out with her best friend, Lena, dancing, party and nightlife.

Vera loves listening to American and Western European rock and pop music and wears clothes and make up inspired by some of her idols such as Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Debbie Harry.

She lives with her mother and her alcoholic father, Kolya, who are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her choice of friends and what they consider her decadent lifestyle.

Vera's mother tries to convince her to tell the authorities that Sergei accidentally caused the wound to himself, to avoid Kolya being sent to prison.

At the beginning of the film, Andrey is about to leave for naval training and attempts to persuade Vera to come home with him, but she spurns his advances.

He explains that he is on leave for only one day and again tries to arrange a tryst, only to have Vera resort to physical violence to fend him off when he attempts to force himself on her.

[11] The lack of physical and psychological space in her apartment and her consistent dependence on the men around her makes her an accurate figure of a young woman from a blue-collar Russian family that time.

Vera's parents, Kolya and Rita, are played by two stars of the Soviet era, whose typical roles as socialist realists are inverted in the film.

The films ends with Victor leaving his family for his job immediately after Vera's attempted suicide, and Kolya passing away under a heart attack on the kitchen floor.

Using the brackish water of the port as his primary motif, Pitchul shot the picture in a ragged, off-the-cuff style, adding images of the polluted waterfront and rusting machinery.

[16] The film frankly takes side with the youth against the authority, depicting the police as repressive and uncaring of the fate of the people.

Negoda also posed nude for Playboy with the headline "From Russia, With Love" to help the film launch in America.

Tearing down the facade of socialist realism, the film portrays honestly a provincial Russian family supported by an alcoholic father, their meaningless works, and the aimless youth around them.