A painfully sincere story throwing light on the silent suffering of victims of sexual abuse, as well as the indifference and irresponsibility of the close ones shutting eyes on the crime.
Fourteen-year-old Mira longs for a sense of safety, a feeling of being loved. Her life is fine: she has a mother, a stepfather, a little sister, there are gifts for Christmas, and a cat. But there is something wrong about Mira. One little nighttime secret. When Mira wants to celebrate New Year's Eve with her friend Lera, her stepfather disagrees. However, after a tense family dinner, she still gets permission. At the party, just like at home, she receives contradictory messages from older, protective figures, which is reflected in Mira's friendship with sixteen-year-old Lera and in her first experience of love.
"Meshchaninova poignantly conveys what it means to live with a terrible secret enclosed in your chest, dragged like a burden, endured in silence and shame: a great unsaid colouring every interaction, self-perception and hope about the other. The film presents a girl's teenage years as an impossible test, with Mira longing for an escape into adulthood or a return to lost childhood." (Cristina Álvarez López, International Film Festival Rotterdam)