In a village hit by drought, Dumitru starts a quest for water. Ioana, the girl who accompanies him in this pursuit, is a silent witness of the baseness of people they meet on their way.

Sasha works for a natural gas company. When his wife gives birth 2 months early, Sasha is searching for money to save the premature baby. Despite this, he refuses to take bribes, which threatens his job and leads to friction with his colleagues. His wife doesn't understand him anymore. Faced with a crisis, Sasha receives an order to install a furnace in a church, where he will have to destroy an icon painted on the church wall. Hoping to save the sacred image, Sasha has to corrupt the system.

In his fight for justice, Andrei resorts to some methods that are not exactly legal. What will be the price he has to pay in order to get what he wants?

Based on Ion Druță's opera "Casa Mare" (The Big House).