In 16th-century Russia in the grip of chaos Ivan the Terrible strongly believes he is vested with a holy mission. Believing he can understand and interpret the signs he sees the Last Judgment approaching. He establishes absolute power cruelly destroying anyone who gets in his way. During this reign of terror Philip the superior of the monastery on the Solovetsky Islands a great scholar and Ivan's close friend dares to oppose the sovereign's mystical tyranny. What follows is a clash between two completely opposite visions of the world smashing morality and justice God and men. A grand-scale film with excellent leading roles by Mamonov and Yankovsky. An allegory of Stalinist Russia