Rita is a naive 18-year-old from the sticks who has come to Moscow to meet up with the man who impregnated her a few months earlier. Unfortunately, his name and address was written on a piece of paper in her luggage, which was promptly stolen upon her arrival in Moscow. Thus, she is a bit at loose ends, and going back home is clearly not an option.

A group of soldiers is stuck on the Russian-Chechen border near the field which locals call dead.

A certain Hawthorne approaches a young, talented, but not very famous actress Elda with an unusual request. He offers her, for an impressive sum, to play the role of Angotea, the wife of the dying Ferguson, who has disappeared and to whom Elda is extremely similar in appearance.