When Russian-born French doctor Alexei returns to the Soviet Union in 1946 with his French wife, Marie, and their little son, Russian officials tell Alexei to divorce Marie, whom they suspect of being a spy. Alexei stands by his wife and soon the three are sent off to Kiev, where Alexei becomes a factory medical officer and the family is forced to live in an old mansion-turned-tenement. Marie and Alexei are trapped in a harsh, paranoid totalitarian state, and their predicament exacts its toll on the marriage until Marie becomes inspired by the arrival of Gabrielle, a celebrated French actress who awakens Maries desire for personal freedom and repatriation.