Daily life in a third-class Transsiberian wagon named Vostok N 20. Between discomfort, shared meals, boredom and confessions to strangers, people spend their time as they can. In the form of literary counterpoint, poems of Marina Tsvétaeva told by Fanny Ardant illuminates the feelings of passengers: their loneliness, their desires for freedom and love.
Like every other night, Sasha goes out to drown her loneliness in alcohol at the local bistro. But this time, she meet Paolo, an attractive man who wants to talk to her.
