When a German businessman heads to Russia with his wife and son Stefan on a business venture following the end of the cold war, he quickly finds that the way east and west do business differs greatly. In the mean time his son Stefan forms a friendship with his fathers local business partners son Tengis. Tengis is in no way an average teenager continually in a psychological illusion dreaming of butterflies and looking at life from an abstract point of view. Tengis falls into a deeper state of anxiety when in his view his new found German friend shifts his attention to a local girl. By the end of the film Stefan finds himself in greater confusion as he tries to come to terms with the loss of Tengis and the major changes that have taken place following his return to Russia shortly after leaving it.