Terror strikes the underground train system in Moscow in the form of a flood from a collapsed tunnel. The film follows a diverse group of Moscow citizens who find themselves trapped in the city’s underground rail network, their train derailed and virtually crushed after an aging tunnel collapses. Amongst this band of survivors is softly spoken surgeon Andrey (Sergei Puskepalis), whose wife is having an affair with the conceited businessman Vlad (Anatoly Beliy). Fate brings these two men together on the same doomed train, but there is little time to resolve their differences, as the tunnel begins to quickly fill with water, forcing them to work together with the others and find a way back to the surface.

The film tells the story of a young Russian in the early 90s, trying to escape the army in a psychiatric clinic. He's released years later, after intensive compulsory treatment. Has a documentary film maker he gets involved in the Chechen conflict, where he meets his own apparent death. He recalls his life and realizes it mirrors that of his whole generation.

Sasha is 16 years old, but he has already seen a lot: he worked in a canteen, a boiler room, swept the streets, and now he delivers correspondence and pensions to the elderly. He has a wonderful opportunity to communicate with different people, be an ignorant witness and sometimes take part in family dramas. This is how he meets his first love: it's complicated but he's happy...