The story, akin to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's ambitious 1962 masterpiece One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, steadily indicts the corruption of state power – a power ever-willing to kill and to align itself with an even more corrupt power, the Orthodox Church. Like communism, which once promised absolution for the worst crimes in exchange for loyalty, Russia's current state religion allows, even encourages, misdeeds – including murder – so long as one is loyal to God.
影片的故事接近于索尔仁尼琴1962年的宏大杰作《伊万·杰尼索维奇的一天》（One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich），是对国家力量的腐败的娓娓道来的控诉。这股腐败的力量日益沉溺于杀戮，并且与更加腐败的力量——东正教会相勾结。与共产主义——它曾经承诺赦免最恶劣的犯罪以换取忠诚——一样，俄罗斯目前的国教允许甚至鼓励恶行——包括谋杀——只要你终于上帝。