Little Vera

Vera has just finished school and faces pressure from her parents to apply to university, but she prefers going out with her best friend Lena, dancing, and embracing the nightlife. She loves Western rock and pop and models herself on her idols, while living with her mother and an alcoholic father, Kolya, whose disapproval grows as her decadence persists. The conflict at home foreshadows the larger clash between duty and desire that drives the story.

At an underground dance party that is broken up by police, Vera meets Sergei and they feel an immediate connection. They fall in love quickly, and it turns out Sergei is an old friend of Vera's brother Victor, who is in town for a visit. The encounter sets the course for the couple's later plans.

Vera and Sergei resolve to marry, their romance intensifying the already fraught family dynamics. Victor, Vera's brother, is aware of Sergei and serves as the link between their two circles. The decision to wed quickly accelerates the family’s need to accept the match.

To win her parents' acceptance, Vera falsely tells her mother that she is pregnant. Sergei makes his first, uneasy meeting with Vera's parents, which does not go well, and he ends up moving in with them after the awkward dinner. The deception briefly mollifies tensions while setting the stage for later conflict.

On Kolya's birthday, Sergei, fed up with Kolya's drunkenness, locks him in the bathroom. Kolya breaks the basin in the struggle, and when he is released, he stabs Sergei in the side, sending him to the hospital for a long convalescence. The violent incident cements the rift between Vera's family and the couple.

Vera's mother proposes telling the authorities that Sergei accidentally hurt himself to shield Kolya from prison. Victor, visiting from Moscow, prescribes tranquilizers to calm Vera's despondence. The family dynamics grow more fragile as the medical crisis lingers.

The family heads to the beach for a picnic under the pretense of helping Vera forget the ordeal, but Vera suspects the trip is meant to pressure her into lying about the stabbing. A storm suddenly rises as they prepare to leave, and Vera disappears; Kolya searches for her and the two lovers are later seen embracing on the beach.

Kolya searches for Vera and, in a tense moment, he and Vera are seen together on the beach, while Vera remains torn between her family's demands and Sergei. The moment underscores the fragile union the couple is trying to maintain amid growing danger. The embrace foreshadows the unraveling after the stormy event.

Vera testifies that her father was not to blame for Sergei's stabbing, attempting to shield the family. She visits Sergei in the hospital and explains that the family needed Kolya to survive, but Sergei seems uninterested and tells her to go away. The exchange marks a formal end to the couple's fragile reconciliation.

Back home, Vera is left alone, turning to drinking and pills as Victor arrives to help. Sergei escapes from the hospital and arrives on the scene, signaling a break in the fragile truce between the families. The tension between love and survival intensifies.

When Vera asks why Sergei returned, he explains simply that he was scared. She asks whether he loves her, seeking reassurance that their bond can endure the chaos around them. The moment reveals the fragility of their passion.

Kolya sits alone in the kitchen, gradually collapsing as exhaustion and heartbreak take their toll. He calls out to Victor and Vera, leaving his fate ambiguous but clearly fatal. His death frames the end of the family's turmoil and Vera's uncertain future.

At the start, Andrey, a former classmate, is infatuated with Vera and wants her to marry him, illustrating the social pressure on Vera and her sexuality. He tries to persuade her to come home with him when he is about to leave for naval training, but Vera spurns his advances.

Later, Andrey returns on a brief leave and again tries to arrange a tryst, only to face Vera's physical resistance as she defends herself. The encounter emphasizes Vera's struggle for autonomy in the face of persistent male pressure. The scene adds to the atmosphere of danger and vulnerability around Vera.