In this surreal take on Pygmalion set in 1900s St. Petersburg, Russia, a time known in art as Russian Decadence, a famous artist and decorator, Platon Andreevich, strives to find the secret to eternal life through the beautiful mannequins he creates, and his latest masterpiece, more perfect in his hubristic mind than anything that God had ever created, is based on a young dying girl. However, years later, he meets the wife of a rich merchant, who looks just like the now supposedly long time dead girl he used as model for his perfect mannequin. The artist becomes obsessed with uncovering the woman's mysterious past, which puts him in grave danger.