Platon Gerasimov

Marfa returns with her son to the Pacific island where she grew up and where her father worked as a lighthouse keeper. At the same time, her half-brother Ilya appears on the island, whom Marfa has not seen for many years. Marfa and Ilya are connected by a dark secret. But no matter how much they try to escape from the past, it overtakes them in the form of a mysterious whale cruising off the coast of the island and as if trying to convey something to Marfa.

Post-WWII Russia, industrial city of Sverdlovsk. Former opera singer and mother to four children, Nina Levitskaya knows nothing about the fate of her husband. Communist party functionary Alexander disappeared almost a year ago and is now rumored to be in Moscow. With life becoming increasingly hard for the family, Nina decides to risk it all in hope of a reunion. She hastily sells everything she can, gathers her children, and sets out for the capital.