1928: Lyovuschka, a Soviet worker, is cast in the role of Trotsky for Eisenstein‘s latest film, but quickly finds his dreams of an actor‘s life shattered when Trotsky falls into Stalin‘s disfavor. Exiled from his homeland, he poses as a wealthy baron and finds himself stuck in a glamorous seaside resort in Germany awaiting a barge that will take him to Hollywood. A summer romance kicks off when he meets the eccentric factory owner Octavia Flambow-Jansen - it's just too bad there are vampires around.
Longtime friends Noah and Hakim fall in love with the same woman. Charlotte is a photographer from Bavaria, blonde, blue-eyed, German and Catholic. Noah is Jewish and Hakim is Muslim. The tension between the two friends, the religions and the previously friendly families is thus established.