The dark drama of a peasant family from the second half of the 19th century: Seduced by a municipal clerk (in exchange for a promise to release her husband from military service), the woman dies at the hands of her jealous husband.

A young boy sends anonymous threats to various troublemakers around town, hoping that they will report themeselves to the police and grant his older brother, a militia officer a transfer to Warsaw.

Lives of three people intersect when they meet on a holiday in Mazury.