In 1990s Leningrad, a Russian man prepares to emigrate, but things don't quite go as planned—twists of fate, complex friendships, and the omnipresent KGB stand in his way.

An aging electrical engineer's intensifying sensation of detachment culminates in a series of debilitating headaches. As he works through fatigue, setbacks, and pain, he finally confronts the source of his desolation.

Stinging from his recently cut-off engagement, a young man retreats to a small town in the mountains of Virginia to work as city editor of the local newspaper. Alternately entranced and disgusted with his hermit-like nocturnal life, he finds peace and pleasure listening to the St. Anthony Chorale.

A conversation with his former lover opens a man's eyes to his tendency to flee rather than confront the hopeless reality of his own life.

A man's lonely life focused on the pursuit of reason and music leaves him questioning what more there may be in the lives of other people and of religion.

A Russian man recalls the first time he fell in love.

An older Jewish man living in America becomes increasingly jealous of a fellow writer as his Yiddish poetry is continuously rejected by publishers, while his colleague's short stories are translated into English and earn him fame and success.

In 20th century Russia, a Korean-Russian mechanic's childhood best friend suddenly returns to their hometown. Their unexpected reunion stirs memories from their families' intertwined past and forces the mechanic to confront the disappearance of his Russian mother.

While touring Russia to better understand the lives of its inhabitants, an Englishman is invited to stay at a local man’s home, where he witness one of the region’s infamous holy men perform a miraculous, but dubious healing.

In intense discussion a group leader ponders aloud, asking why hermits hide and what defines outcasts, among other cerebral queries. A group of friends discusses the oddities they have seen and perceived in their lives leather-clad hermits and criminal astronauts among them. They debate the purpose of hermitage, the classification of outcasts, and the purpose of their own reflections.