In the winter of 1982, Anton Grebov, a quiet factory worker in the oppressive state of Arstotzka, is reassigned by government lottery to serve as an immigration inspector at a newly opened border checkpoint. What begins as a monotonous job — checking passports, verifying documents, and stamping approvals — quickly unravels into a daily test of loyalty, morality, and survival.
As the regime tightens control, rules change without warning, and the line outside grows longer with desperate refugees, smugglers, spies, and innocents fleeing violence. Some offer bribes. Others bring secrets. A few might be terrorists.
Ezic, a shadowy revolutionary group, reaches out to Anton with cryptic messages and dangerous choices. His every decision is monitored. His mistakes are punished. His family — a sick daughter, a fragile wife — relies on his paycheck, even as the cost of obedience grows unbearable.
With the fate of strangers in his hands and his own family’s safety hanging by a thread, Anton must decide what kind of man he is: a loyal servant of the state, a silent rebel, or something in between.
Every stamp is a sentence.
Every choice has a price.
Glory to Arstotzka.
