In the 1950s, a new commander, Lt Kralev arrives to a frontier post with his family. His son Mihail (10) quickly adapts to the harsh conditions of military life. A murder is committed at the post the day after he arrives, the first in a series of horrific murders. The killer seizes the boy and the child rolls into a deep abyss... Will the roots of a dead tree save the boy or will they make him realize that everyone is teetering on the brink of their grotesque life, unaware that they are hanging just an inch above the ground.