The guests who come to the mansion of aristocratic landowner and man of the world Nikolai over the Christmas holidays are hand-picked. Among them is a politician, a young countess and a Russian general with his wife. They converse and dine, indulge in parlour games, and discuss the right form of authority in the face of political impotence as well as progress and morality, death and the Antichrist. As the debate becomes more heated, cultural differences become increasingly apparent and the mood grows tense. In the end, everyone will become a victim of his or her own discourse.

2020 Berlin IFF (Germany) – Encounters’ Opening Film – Best Director Award