In a remote village on the Kazakh steppe, Mariam lives with her husband and four young children in a home without light or water. One winter day, her husband disappears. Without a body, he cannot be declared dead and Mariam is unable to receive state financial support. A very reserved person who buries her emotions, she must face survival of her family on her own in the harsh, rural winter. Inspired by actual events in Mariam's life, who portrays herself in a film that blurs documentary and drama as it paints her life's mundane details.