Gabriel is a 15-year-old teenager who wants to become a priest and is admitted to an Orthodox seminary. He starts by trying to fit in, but eventually realises the system is completely corrupted and abusive. Caught up in the fight for power between an incorruptible, but abusive priest and a cunning, crooked and unscrupulous secular teacher, the students learn that lying, stealing and betraying are skills they have to master in order to survive in the seminary. Who will graduate and become a priest? What kind of priests will they make after spending several years in this system?