Ilya once showed great promise in sport and was considered one of the country’s most promising track and field athletes. He really was a brilliant runner—including when it came to running away from problems, from responsibility, from a sensible life… But he never managed to run away from himself. His mother, weary of the endless antics of her addicted, wayward son, sent Ilya to a strange institution called ‘Trust’, which turned out to be something of a cross between a rehab centre, a prison and the ninth circle of hell. His new family, as the locals affectionately call one another, does not live, but exists under harsh laws that demand unquestioning obedience to absurd rules, the failure to follow which is met with immediate and brutal punishment. Gradually, Ilya realises that his physical and external lack of freedom reveals his inner freedom, allowing him to rediscover the meaning of life.
