Eurofilm

Twenty years after the conclusion of the Croat-Bosniak War, the two ethnic groups still live in fierce conflict, which is only increased by the recent suicide of a war veteran.

December 2023. To spread holiday cheer, a theatre company is touring small towns of post-war Bosnia with a play about Santa Claus. While children are enchanted by the play, the appearance of Santa Claus rekindles old disputes among the adults.

Ilija is a member of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) somewhere in Central Bosnia in late 1993. One morning, after a routine mine laying campaign, he learns his younger brother Goran was killed far beyond enemy lines, together with eight other soldiers. Through a friend from the secret service, he finds out the mission was an unofficial one and that Goran and the others were acting as mercenaries. Ilija begins to expose a network of illegal activity involving not only the military, but high-ranking officials. As the investigation becomes more dangerous, his original intention to find out the truth slowly turns into a pathological mission of vengeance.