Yugoslavia, 1979. Jugoslav is an ambitious reporter in a state that strictly controls the media. Blagoje is a retired UDBE colonel, crippled by health problems. Their paths cross when they both go to investigate a brutal murder case in eastern Serbia. In the picturesque surroundings, Jugoslav meets Blagoje's children, his son Aljoša, a dissident hermit, and his daughter Sonja, the widow of a crime victim and a local femme fatale.