Before Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic shot to fame with the success of The Powder Keg (1998) and its critique of the Serbian war machine, he directed this contemplative, understated personal drama about a man falling into the trap of fate. Dragan is a beach guard during the quiet winter season. The product of a turbulent home, Dragan is convinced and determined to avoid the misery his parents lived through when he was growing up. Happy enough with his job, he marries his childhood sweetheart and seems destined to bypass his family’s unhappiness. But when his wife leaves him and his father passes away, Dragan comes to the painful realization that his parents once felt the same optimism he did. Now immersed in a life of disappointment and abandonment, bitterness rises up in him and his transformation into his parents is complete.