The 20s. Stepan Khomutov returns to the Kuban village of Talitsy from the front of the Civil War and decides to organize a commune in the former princely manor. The peasants, fearing both bandits and communards, wait for the outcome of the struggle. In this difficult situation, the former farmhand Alyona, the wife of a rich man, fell in love with the farmhand Ignatka, who by the weakness of his character joined the bandits and received the task to burn the village...