叶莲娜·米哈伊洛夫娜住在省城,靠着微薄的退休金生活。很意外地,她拿出了关于自己的死亡诊断书,按照诊断结论,她随时都有可能离开这个世界。为了不惊扰自己最爱的、在大城市当企业培训师且整日忙碌的儿子,并将他从潜在的忧虑中解脱出来,叶莲娜·米哈伊洛夫娜决定亲自处理这件事,她开始积极、忙碌地操办自己的葬礼……充满象征意味的鲤鱼并未冻伤,而是诗意的契约。Elena Mihailovna, having worked all her life in the only school of a provincial town, lives modestly in retirement. Unexpectedly she learns of a fatal diagnosis, which can at any moment end her life. Instead of an unbearable anticipation, she resolutely begins the preparation for her own death, in order to simplify the procedure for her son. She has not seen her only son for over five years because he works in the capital. Oleg is constantly busy, and he does not have time for his lonely mother. At the same time with all the new problems, the heroine receives as a gift a huge carp, which changes her life.