When the military train stops in the middle of the night at the small Kyrgyz railway station, a shadow detaches itself from a carriage. Ismail has secretly returned from the front as a deserter. Sejde wants to stand by him. What woman these days is fortunate enough to have her husband by her side! She hides him and stands up to the entire village and the police commissioners. In the depths of winter, she carries food into the mountains, where she and the whole village are suffering from hunger. But fear, existential need, and distrust change a person. Something sinister emerges in the depths of Ismail's eyes.