1998, Nalchik. A Jewish family is in trouble: the youngest son and his bride do not come home, and in the morning, a ransom note arrives. The ransom is so high that the family is forced not only to sell its small business, but also to seek help from its fellow tribesmen.

The artists of the front acting brigade are so easy to take. On their side is a creative approach, courage, beauty, dexterity and ... a cello case full of explosives. They are ready for anything to help the front, even sacrifice themselves. The only thing the young playwright Leonid Kruchinin is not ready to give up is his love for the unearthly Lara Vishnevskaya, the star of the Soviet screen. To save her life, he is ready to rewrite his best novel over and over again. A novel about love, war, a front-line acting brigade, and sabotage inconceivable by the audacity of sabotage.