Forest ranger Igor patrols the Siberian woods for poachers. His simple life changes drastically when, after a shooting, he ends up in hospital and proves to have a deadly disease. The doctor gives him two months, at most.
The Man Who Surprised Everyone is a contemporary version of a Siberian folk tale about a man who cheated Death by impersonating a woman. Igor also decides to live as a woman, but not to fool anyone. He wants the pretending to stop now that he doesn’t have much life left. The support thus far received from the rural population due to his terminal illness dries up fast. Nevertheless, this is about more than just gender. Evgeniy Tsyganov plays Igor with such vulnerability that it’s also about bodies breaking down, identity and social status.