Artemy Milgram

Vyacheslav Ermakov, a phony businessman and life-waster, owes a large sum to a crime boss and, to pay off his debt, is forced to agree to carry out his errand. But a fateful encounter occurs along the way. To survive, Slava must play a survival game. The film is unusual in the ambiguity of its antagonist and his motives, all set against the backdrop of class conflict and reflection on the collapse of the USSR.

The distant future. Earthlings help less developed civilizations overcome difficult stages of evolution. Anton, an employee of the Institute of History, goes to the medieval Arkanar to rescue scientists who can advance evolution. He will become Don Rumata of Estor, a wealthy aristocrat and lover of fights, booze and women. The main rule of progressors is not to interfere directly with the natural course of history, pointwise saving a few enlighteners from death. But Anton has a personal interest that he hid from the institute: somewhere in Arkanar, his father went missing.