Aïdar, a young Kyrgyz man returns home from his studies in France, with a beautiful French fiancée in tow. His fiancée is warmly welcomed by the village and captivated by the beauty of the region, but he stubbornly refuses to tell his family that the two are engaged.

"The Lake" tells the story of a girl named Jyldys who lives with her family in a village by the Issyk-Kul. Her life is hard. Her classmates tease her because she rarely speaks and often stays in her own world. The only solace she finds is in the company of a wise old man, Temirkul, who was once her father's teacher. Since Temirkul's own daughter drowned in the lake, he clings to the old legend about fish that embody the souls of those who have passed away. The lake is truly sacred to him. When his wife dies, he comes up with the idea of ​​placing her body in the lake instead of burying her in the ground. Jyldys's father, on the other hand, is devoted to the old traditions and says his former teacher's ideas are madness. He believes the only way to help him is to pledge his own land to arrange a proper funeral for his late wife.