Third Man Syndrome

Three days before New Year, a low-cost airline announces its bankruptcy and cancels hundreds of domestic and international flights. The plans of two protagonists fall apart. Including Christina, whose wedding dress is in a suitcase, is forced to remain in Almaty for an indefinite time. She has no relatives or friends there—only her next-door neighbor, who plans to celebrate the holiday at a height of more than 3,000 meters, in the company of mountain-hiking enthusiasts.

This is how a few barely acquainted people—once in the mountains—lose their way due to fog and are forced to spend the night on December 31 in an unknown place. A blizzard changed their plans, because the guys were supposed to meet New Year in Uncle Yura’s little cabin at the foot of the Molodezhny Peak—there would be a stove, beds, and a table. But the trail is heavily covered; visibility is zero in the blizzard. And someone who was supposed to fly away forever yesterday has arrived without proper special boots—so they keep slipping on the moraine, slipping and falling.