The film is Olexandr Kybalnyk's graduation project from the Kyiv Institute of Theatrical Arts named after I. K. Karpenko-Karyi. It is based on the eponymous unfinished novella by Lesya Ukrainka. Set in the late 19th century, the story follows Petro, a young Ukrainian man who is forcibly taken away from his home and his beloved girlfriend to serve in the Russian army.