Modern adaptation of the eponymous historical tragedy by A.S. Pushkin. The picture opens from the scene of the murder in Uglich of a young heir to the Russian throne by unknown people. It takes several years. Boris Godunov is persuaded to take the throne remaining vacant, despite his doubts. During the press conference, the Duma clerk announces Godunov’s decision to ascend the kingdom. People are discussing this decision at the TV. Behind the tsar’s back there is a secret undercover fight of several boyar groups for domination under the new government. Godunov, who ascended the throne, obsessively pursues a vision of the boy he killed. Meanwhile, the monk Grigory Otrepyev is hiding in the Miracle Monastery. After talking with Pimen, he learns the secret of the murder, flees from the monastery and decides to try to come to power. Having secured foreign help and gathered an army, Grigory goes to Moscow.