After being expelled from her village for stealing, a mother takes refuge in a leper colony in the desolate Arctic region of Yakutia. But jealousy and betrayal soon wrenches this tiny band of outcasts apart, who have been banished from participation in Yakut community life.

Originally intended as a feature film, The River was halted mid-production by director Aleksey Balabanov when his lead actor was tragically killed. An ethnographic study in post-colonial identity, the film was considered an unfinished masterpiece by many Russian critics on its eventual release.