A small seaside village in the former Soviet republic of Georgia is rocked after an ostracized village elder dies by suicide. When his long-absent granddaughter arrives to take care of his affairs, she finds a tight-knit, tight-lipped community of villagers closing ranks, determined to defend their hardened moral and religious codes at all costs. It sets her on a pitched battle to challenge the bigoted culture that led to her grandfather’s despair, and on a path to discovering more about herself.

Director Elene Naveriani’s beautifully realized, award-winning drama unfolds with quiet power, as the tensions and long-held prejudices within the sleepy Black Sea village build inexorably to their dramatic denouement. Granddaughter Moe—an urban outlier with a rebellious streak—finds only a few compassionate souls to take her side—among them the alluring café server Fleshka and her employer, the dapper Amnon. They form a trio of quiet defiance in this film that reminds us of how deep the roots of fear, homophobia, and prejudice still run.