Hanging out with friends, smoking a lot, spinning bottles and kissing, making mistakes, playing, refusing to accept, dreaming with open eyes - life as a teenager can be overwhelmingly beautiful and difficult at the same time. In her debut, the Ukrainian director composes a deeply emotional and multi-layered portrait of a generation whilst seamlessly flowing between the fictional and the documental.
Living in war-torn Eastern Ukraine Anna is an aging single mother who is desperate for a change. Lured by a radio advertisement, she goes to party with a group of American men who are touring the country, searching for love.
Erik is convinced he has a stone for a heart. That’s why he doesn’t mind that his parents have no time for him, or that he is bullied at school, or that he has no real friends. When his family moves to a villa they inherited, he is confronted by Maria whom Erik's parents want to kick out along with her father. Maria refuses to move and promises to make Erik's life a living hell. As a last attempt to defeat Erik, Maria goes to look for her mother who disappeared two years ago. Together they end up on a fantastical journey to the In-Between-World and Erik learns how hard it really is to wear a heart of stone.
