A Trip Without a Load

A young novice Muscovite journalist, Pavel Sirotkin, Aleksandr Demyanenko is assigned to cover the northern timber industry, focusing on its hard-edged driver Nikolay Khromov Georgiy Yumatov. He is pulled into the harsh winter world of the taiga, where work and life collide in a landscape that tests every limit. At first, Sirotkin seems to stumble upon only negative developments, but soon he uncovers outright fraud within the timber sector. Khromov, a shrewd operator, skillfully manipulates the mileage records to his advantage, while Akim Sevastyanovich Anatoliy Papanov, the director of the forestry administration, emerges as a cunning and determined chief who embraces the plan no matter the price.

As the journalist gathers enough facts about self-serving workers, he takes his findings to Akim Sevastyanovich. The forestry administrator tries to deter him, and when persuasion fails, he assigns Khromov the job of driving Sirotkin to the district center, insinuating that the journalist may simply disappear. The moment seems to present Khromov with a chance to bury all evidence and walk away free, leaving the inexperienced city dweller to the snow-covered taiga and a potential death in the cold. The ethical pressure between the two men sharpens into a moral confrontation that is as much about character as it is about crime.

Then fate tests them in a brutal, tangible way. The truck runs out of gasoline on a frozen river, amid vast, empty plains. Daylight fades, a snowstorm begins, and the long night looms as temperatures plummet to minus 40 degrees Celsius. With the vehicle stuck and help far away, the two men face a life-or-death crisis that forces them to reckon with loyalty, guilt, and survival. In these extreme conditions, small choices reveal the true psychological and human qualities of each man, unraveling the veneer of power and exposing the core of who they are when the world narrows to cold, ice, and the will to endure.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:03