Nikolai Kruglov, who retired due to a fatal mistake in his job, decides to return to his hometown and quietly meet old age. The idyll prevailing in the city turns out to be deceptive, and Kruglov himself quickly turns from a well-deserved pensioner into a dangerous fugitive and hostage-taker.

An attempt to protect a woman from local bandits ends with Nikolai Kruglov being shamefully accused of a series of particularly serious articles. Exhausted by his injury, he himself ceases to understand where the truth is and where the slander is.

Miraculously surviving, Kruglov loses close friends and receives a tempting offer.