Treatment

Events begin in 2025. A little girl, Steph (10), takes a big stage with a small inner monologue, from which we learn that her dream – to sing from the stage – has come true. She starts singing the Ukrainian song “Shchedryk,” known worldwide as “Carol of the Bells,” in a stunning voice.

Action transfers to Ukraine in 2022. Steph lives with her mother Maria (35) in Mariupol. Steph was approved for the leading role in a film. The following day she and her mother are supposed to go to the capital of Ukraine for filming. Maria packs the bags. Steph sees her new blue coat in the suitcase and wants to put it on right away; Maria says it’s too cold. Steph cuts her finger making a sandwich; the sight of blood causes her panic and she loses consciousness. She admits she is terrified of blood.

At school, Steph cheerfully tells her friends that her character is a little girl who sings “Shchedryk” instead of praying and thus tries to save everyone. From Maria’s conversation with Yulia (35), the mother of Steph’s friend, we learn the film is about WW2 but Steph does not understand the tragedy. They visit Maria’s father, Andrew (65) – a former Soviet Union soldier and Putin supporter who dislikes that his granddaughter will perform in a historical film and believes Ukraine is an artificially created state. Steph, cheerful and friendly, tries to protect her mother and explain the historical truth in a childish, naive manner. Before bed Steph says tomorrow will be the happiest day of her life.

In the morning, Steph is awakened by explosions. She believes she dreamed of them because they talked about the war. Confused, Maria runs in and announces that the war has begun. Andrew comes by, joyfully declaring it will all be over soon: the Ukrainian government is finished, the Russians will release everyone, and he is glad his granddaughter will not act in a Ukrainian film. He says he will be grateful to the Russians for re-educating her and Steph, and leaves. Before sleep Steph asks what will happen when she dies; Maria assures her it will be light and comfortable, but not soon.

The next day Steph sees her friend Nika on the swing and runs to tell Maria the war is over. They go to the store; people are buying food and water in a panic. On the way back there is a loud explosion and a huge black column of smoke. Frightened people scatter. Maria pulls Steph to the wall of a house; further explosions follow. They quickly head down the street. At home they notice Nika’s grandfather’s car. Yulia is leaving and gives Maria a water bottle, advising her to contact Andrew, who also has a car.

Andrew refuses, saying the Russians will never bomb the civilian population, only military facilities, and that the railroad will be fired upon. That evening the bombing begins; the light goes out, walls creak, dishes break. Maria knocks Steph to the floor. Water also disappears; Maria fetches rainwater. Steph dances in the meadow as snow falls, and people admire her. Maria melts the snow to prepare food. They sleep in the bathroom, tightly pressed together, as explosions sound very close.

Vlad (40), Ira’s husband, says there will be a “green corridor” today; he asks Maria to write the word “Children” on paper. The convoy reaches the Ukrainian checkpoint; servicemen explain there is no “green corridor,” but two vehicles break through and are instantly bombed. The Russian military begins mass shelling. Maria throws Steph to the ground and covers her. After the shelling, the surviving cars with “Children” on them slowly return to Mariupol. Dead people and burning cars line the road.

A new bombardment begins; the house opposite is on fire. They run to the basement, full of people. Steph asks her mother to announce her performance to support people. Steph sings “Shchedryk.” Her charming voice calms people down. At that moment a rocket hits the roof of their house. Returning to the apartment they find broken glass and shattered ceilings. Steph puts on her new blue coat; she will grow up while the war lasts and never wear it. Explosions force them back to the basement.

In the morning the residents prepare food using a fire in the yard. Steph dresses in the blue coat and warm pink hat. She and Maria head out and meet Vlad, who has found a man who will lead them at night through paths known only to him for a thousand dollars; he promises to help. At the well Maria removes her warm yellow scarf and throws it on Steph’s back. They walk down a street of broken cars, glass, pipes; many houses are black with smoke. They dream of how the war will end, how their home will be renovated, how Steph will become a singer. Suddenly the shelling begins. Maria leaves the bucket and they run. A shell fragment hits Maria in the back; she falls. Steph leans over her. People pass them by. Maria looks at the blue sky with her eyes wide open. Steph does not understand that her mother has died.

Vira (50), Andrew’s neighbour, finds them and runs to fetch Andrew. They carry Maria’s body wrapped in a sheet to a large ditch where the dead are thrown because there is no way to bury them in the cemetery. Maria’s body is thrown into the ditch in front of Steph’s eyes; she screams and tries to get into the moat too. At Andrew’s house Steph accuses him of her mother’s death. Vira takes Steph to her children’s-hospital workplace; there is no heating in the children’s ward, so Vira takes her to the maternity hospital. Steph shares a ward with Olya (25), pregnant in the last month.

In the morning Russian bombers drop bombs directly on the Red Cross. Glass shards fly into the ward and hit Olya’s stomach; a blood stain appears on her pyjamas. Steph drags Olya through a hole in the door toward the stairs. A doctor (30) carries Olya to the basement to an improvised operating room. Steph sits in a corner, tears wiped with bloody hands. The doctor tells her not to be afraid – this is someone else’s blood. Steph replies that she is no longer afraid of blood because she is used to it. Olya turns to Steph in a weak voice and says her child has died; she asks Steph to sing because people need to hear her voice. She dies after these words.

Steph walks back through bombings. At her grandfather’s apartment a neighbour says he has gone, probably to the Russians. The bombing resumes; Steph keeps walking. A rocket destroys a house at a distance; a plane with visible red stars on its wings flies low overhead. Steph approaches her destroyed, smoke-blackened home. The swing on the playground has survived. She sits on it, soaks a piece of bread in snow and eats it.

A military vehicle passes by – Roman (25) and Mykhalych (50), Ukrainian soldiers. They take Steph to their base. She asks to stay and support the military, demonstrating how she can help by singing “Shchedryk.” Her voice enchants all the service members. Russian tanks break into the city; Ukrainian soldiers, including Andrew, join the battle. He is killed in action. Roman brings Steph to the lobby of the drama theatre, full of people whose homes have been bombed and who are waiting for the “green corridor.” Katya (30) takes her in. Outside, an elderly man uses a stencil to draw the word “CHILDREN” with white paint on the asphalt so the theatre is not bombed. Steph helps.

The next day a Russian bomber appears in the sky. The inscriptions “CHILDREN” are clearly visible on both sides of the theatre. An explosion. The theatre building splits in two. A man falls on Steph, covering her. She climbs out from under his body, smeared in blood. The exit is completely blocked. She hears the rescuer’s voice say there is no one else alive. Steph starts singing “Shchedryk.” Roman, sitting next to the rescuer, hears her voice and rejoices; they rake up the debris and reach her. Steph drops her coat and runs to him. He picks her up and snuggles her. She confesses that she knew he would save her.

In the morning Roman takes Steph to a bus. She is in a clean blue coat with neatly combed hair. She gives Katya a package with Gerda’s costume; the other has her scarf and some food. Roman asks the teacher (50) who accompanies the children to send him an SMS when they arrive in Kyiv – his mother will come for Steph. The bus stops at a Russian checkpoint. Russian soldiers take out adults and children over 14 and conduct an examination. One soldier pulls Steph out of the bus and declares she is a Nazi because she is dressed in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. The teacher tries to stand up for her and is killed.

Steph breaks free and runs to the forest. The Russian soldiers shoot at her and call it a safari. They wound her, then drag her into a nearby house. Three Russian soldiers rape Steph – we cannot see it but we understand it. The Russians have fun and call it re-education. Steph is still alive, lying on a bed in her blue coat. There is a shot. Blood slowly spills over her coat.

We see the big concert stage again. Steph, the angel, addresses the listeners and says she was killed only because she is Ukrainian, so she will never go on stage and sing. Steph asks to remember her.

THE END