The love story of the son of Imam Shamil Jamalutdin and Lisa Olenina against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the military history of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Jamalutdin went down in history as a "great hostage", and the film is an attempt to answer the question: a hostage of big politics or big love. The historical context of the decline of the Nikolaev era, against which the story of love and betrayal, honor and duty, service to the motherland and loyalty to this word unfolds, will become the key to the film.

The matriarchal clan led by gorgeous Margarita enters a turbulent period when her son loses his beloved fiancée. Using the structure of a repetitive ritual, the action spans years but takes place mostly during the annual gatherings of Margarita's extraordinary family in their mansion on New Year's Eve. Margarita believes in the magical 13th hour that can break the eternal circle of repetition, defeat death and bring her much-awaited love.

The film consists of five short stories about the fates of four children who survived the terrorist attack at the Beslan school in 2004.