RACHEL WEISS

Rachel Weiss is a quietly-queer Jewish-American college student in her early 20s, the only child of two loving parents, from the pleasant suburb of Aliso Hills in southern Orange County, California. With a Eurail Pass and a suitcase, when she makes friends with vacationing Kalyna Reznikov in Italy. At the start of the film, 21 February 2022, she and Kalyna are boarding the overnight train to Kyiv, to stay with Kalyna’s family for a few days, while the two explore the area.

Neither of them know they are embarking on the greatest adventure of their lives.

KALYNA REZNIKOV

Kalyna Reznikov is a secretly-lesbian Ukrainian nursing student in her early 20s, the only child of two loving parents from a middle-class neighborhood in Kyiv. While vacationing in Italy, she makes friends with Rachel Weiss, and invites her to stay with her family in Kyiv, while she shows her around Kyiv. At the start of the film, 21 February 2022, she and Rachel are boarding the overnight train to Kyiv.

Neither of them know they are embarking on the greatest adventure of their lives.

DR. LYUTSIYA BILYK

Lyutsiya Bilyk is a quietly-queer Ukrainian medical student in her late 20s, half-way toward her goal of becoming a physician. She is the eldest daughter in a family living outside Kyiv. Her older brother Fedir is married and lives in Carlsbad, California.

Although we will not meet her for several weeks—after her school cuts her training short and makes her suddenly start her internship, she is about to experience the most tragic experience of her life.

ERIC and ANDREA WEISS

Eric and Andrea Weiss are the loving parents of Rachel Weiss, keeping in touch with their daughter through the Internet from their peaceful home in Aliso Hills, California. Consistent with their Reform Jewish faith, they fully support their daughter’s queerness and only wish for her to be happy.

As soon as Rachel arrives in Kyiv, 22 February 2022, she makes a video to her parents from Kalyna’s bedroom and her parents see it on social media.

Neither of them know they are about to experience the most painful experience of their lives.

16 March 2025: Crystal Rivers will play Andrea Weiss and serve as co-producer. Here is Crystal with Michael Easton on a 2024 episode of the American daytime television drama General Hospital.

STEPAN and MILENA REZNIKOV

Stepan and Milena Reznikov are the loving parents of their only child Kalyna. They meet Rachel for the first time at the main Kyiv train station on the morning of 22 February 2022.

Neither of them know they are about to experience the most tragic experience of their lives.

DR. ALEX KOVALCHUK

Dr. Alex Kovalchuk is a young physician from eastern Ukraine, working in Kyiv Physical Hospital No. 12, on the south side of Kyiv. Although we will not meet him for a week, his life is about to change forever.

On the morning of 24 Februrary, 2022, the Russian Federation will launch an all-out attack on Kyiv, initiating a war that continues to this day.

The aftermath of the battle for Hostomel, 25 February to 1 April 2022, just outside Kyiv. The decomposing body of a Russian soldier, below frame, is omitted to avoid offending sensitive viewers. (Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 2022)