A cold morning in an opencast ore mine. Krzysztof is starting his first day as a manager. To survive in this community of physical labourers, where he’s patently a fish out of water, he plans to maintain discipline with an iron hand. But an unexpected accident with one of the workers as the victim puts his moral principles to the ultimate test. He comes to understand that it’s easy to be firm in favourable circumstances, but hard to oppose wrongdoing when the consequences might prove tragic.