A TV film based on the novel of the same name by Konstantin Fedin. The film is set in a small provincial town on the Volga River in the pre-revolutionary era. The story centers on Kirill Izvekov, an 18-year-old student at a technical college. The young man is just entering adulthood. He is full of hope and is making his first, as yet not fully conscious, attempts to find his place in his future life. What awaits him in the future? How will his fate and the fate of those around him unfold?