An orphanage resident, Nikita, flees justice to Moscow, where he meets Den, a rich orphan who offers Nikita a ticket to a better life in exchange for his friendship. Nikita agrees, not knowing what price he will have to pay for it.

1945. Of all the men from the village of Maslyanino who went to the front, only five of Maria's sons return. Why did fate choose them and how did the mother survive the war years, to whom the women of the village, at the instigation of the village shop saleswoman Vera, had attributed black magic since before the war, calling her a witch?