Hidden under the ceiling and in the floor, in tights, socks and bras, thousands of cigarettes cross the Ukrainian-Polish border by train every day. War or no war, smuggling remains a lifeline for many families near the border. The smugglers on the train are mostly women – men are busy with ‘bigger’ business.

Olga (19), Nadia (56) and Luba (78) are daughter, mother and grandmother, and smuggling cigarettes is their small family business. We meet them just as Olga, the youngest, is about to take over the business, finally letting her mother and grandmother retire. Olga has been waiting for this moment for a long time. Her love-hate relationship with her mother is built on dictatorship and control. And, of course, her mother learned it from her grandmother… Olga is tired of the never-ending generational battle known as ‘mother knows best’ and wants to be independent at last.

Olga just need to get through her ‘initiation’ day – meaning she must smuggle her first batch without help (though under strict supervision, of course). And if everything goes smoothly, she’ll be able to travel alone and earn her own money.

“If only everything goes smoothly”, underlines Nadia with the tone she was in the habit to use in school when she was a geography teacher. Nadia doesn’t believe Olga will make it – she’s too careless and immature. Nadia still can’t understand how her daughter, being that age (19!), still dreams of becoming… a fashion designer! Ok, a hairdresser or a tailor, but this… For Nadia and Luba it’s a clear sign of immaturity – dreams must be at least a bit realistic.

Olga never dares to oppose her mother. Instead, she escapes into her imagination – she envisions wild, inventive costumes for her future fashion show, inspired by details she observes on the train.

As the journey unfolds, Nadia’s skepticism proves well-founded. Olga’s first solo smuggling attempt goes disastrously wrong. Tricked by the mafia that controls the women smugglers, she unwittingly upgrades from an innocent cigarette runner to a drug trafficker — putting her entire family at risk of ending up in jail.

Manoeuvring harassment and lies, Olga must rely on all her creativity to find a way out. She thinks she’s found the perfect hiding spot — in the suitcase of Martina (42), a rare passenger on the train who isn’t a smuggler. Forced to spend more time in Martina’s compartment, the two women grow unexpectedly close. Being from completely different worlds, they recognize something familiar in each other – they both are daughters of controlling mothers. Martina is the first person who doesn’t dismiss Olga’s dream as mere fantasy.

But their newfound friendship is easily broken — when the train is about to reach the border, Martina discovers the cigarettes in her suitcase. Olga doesn’t have much time to hide the contraband again. Panic sets in, and her imagination turns against her — visions twist into dark, surreal nightmares. What was once her escape becomes a trap.

As the train nears the border, it feels like all hope is lost. But just when no one believes in her, Olga suddenly finds a strength within herself that surprises even her. With newfound confidence, she maneuvers through border control and gets the batch across flawlessly. She’s a star. And for the first time, Nadia sees it: her daughter has outmastered the teacher.

But when morning comes and the train reaches the station where the smugglers usually disembark, Olga doesn’t follow her family off the train. For the first time in her life, she feels empowered to oppose her mother and chase the dream she once thought was unrealistic.