When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
A provincial town in the south of the USSR, 1962. Lyudmila, a devout Communist Party official and idealistic veteran of WW II, is a scourge of anything she perceives as anti-Soviet sentiment. Together with other local Party officials, she is taken by surprise by a strike at the local factory, in which her own daughter is taking part. As the situation quickly spirals out of control, Lyudmila begins a desperate search for her daughter in the face of curfews, mass arrests, and the authorities’ ruthless attempts to cover up the state violence. Her once unquestioning faith in the party line is shaken by her growing awareness of its human toll, tearing apart the world she thought she knew.