A writer in 1930s Moscow has his work banned and is expelled from the official union, leaving him without income. He then writes a novel about a mysterious dark visitor and gradually starts confusing his real life with the story.

A young man wakes up in the morgue. He has no clothes on, he doesn't know how he got here, but most importantly, he doesn't remember who he is. In his mind, there are only incoherent flashes that do not add up to a complete picture, and his life in the real world resembles an incessant nightmare – a prison from which it is impossible to escape. But is this prison real or is it just a projection of his consciousness?