On December 31, 1979, five students come to a sanatorium lost in the Karelian forests to prepare for the New Year's performance. They are led by Associate Professor and the rector's daughter Mymra. Athlete Pasha is going to propose to his girlfriend Katya, but the Associate Professor, who is in love, kidnaps her. Mymra, who has long been jealous of the Associate Professor for young Katerina, arranges a romantic seduction for the Associate Professor. In the midst of a disco party by the pool, the local stoker Vitya intervenes in the fun of the students, an expelled student of the history department who considers himself the descendants of Karelian shamans. He performs a bloody rite, but is mistaken in choosing a victim.

34-year-old Moscow writer Igor Angelevskiy for the third time failed to win Russia's main literary prize. After the award ceremony, the hero's wallet is stolen, which contains the only memory of his mother. Hearing the news about the theft, 20-year-old pickpocket Aldar decides to read Angelevskiy's books and is so fascinated by them that he becomes Igor's student. The writer sees in the young man a brilliant storyteller with rich life experience. After a while, Angelevskiy and Aldar become friends.