All that Alexei Nechaev - a highly placed state official, a prize-winning professor, member of state commissions, foundations, and presidential councils - has achieved in his almost 40 years is destroyed in an instant, including his home and family. He fell in love with a woman young enough to be his daughter -- a charming, childlike and naïve woman. Unaware of what he's doing, Nechaev slowly begins to dismantle his life, bringing it to a final, desperate end.