In a small coastal town in Russia lives an ordinary family, Kolya, his wife Lilya and their teenage son Roma. The family is haunted by a local corrupt mayor who is trying to take away Kolyas business, house and precious land. The mayors plan is supposedly to build a telecommunications mast on Kolyas property, offering a grossly undervalued sum for compensation, although Kolya believes that his real plan is to build a villa for himself. Kolyas old friend Dima a successful and sharp lawyer from Moscow, attempts to fight the expropriation. The film was adjudged as the best film of the year at the 2014 London Film Festival and the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFA). It won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.