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With her addict stepfather spending his child support money on alcohol, 20-year-old Alina shoulders the responsibility for her young half-brother and half-sister. Alina’s mother and grandmother aren't in any state to help, either. There’s never any cash, and they all live together in a shabby, cramped apartment in Kiev. Alina is a talented soccer player who practices in worn-out cleats that she’s sewn back together herself. When her mother dies, Alina’s cherished dream of a place on the national women’s soccer team becomes even more remote.

Director Alisa Kovalenko skillfully maneuvers her camera around the apartment, staying close to this incredibly resilient young woman. Given the circumstances, it's astonishing how much patience Alina has for her family, and how lovingly she cares for her little brother and sister—even when she has no choice but to take them with her to a training camp, or sell her own belongings to support them. Despite it all, she fights to keep her soccer dream alive.