The year is 1953. Due to the mass amnesty, the criminal situation in the USSR is tense. At the same time, Ivan Astafyev, a former commander of a reconnaissance platoon, who was released from prison, returns to his hometown of Gorky. And immediately becomes a victim of an attack by bandits, and then a false accusation of beating the attackers. Ivan's pre—war acquaintance, Captain Shvedov, helps out of trouble, who gets him a job at the Dynamo sports society to train policemen in hand-to-hand combat.