One of the first existentialist films in the Czechoslovak tradition, set over the course of a single night in a remote mountain hotel. From the first awkward introductions to the gradual rise in alcohol-fuelled chaos, it builds toward a painfully honest finale. A modernist setting and a mysterious man in sunglasses who keeps reappearing hint at themes of alienation and superficiality, while vibrant twist dancers embody the stirrings of the sexual revolution. Yet the local townsfolk observe these modern wonders with a mix of curiosity and disbelief – like spectators at a bizarre new zoo.

The film probes the limits of the human desire to escape the endless cycle of work and duty. Through a generational clash, it weaves a mosaic of characters weighed down by traumas that cannot be passed on or explained: from the scars of war, through the era of free love, to the naïve, tragic yearning to know what it’s like to have too much money.