Among art students, tales of unusual paintings have been going on for a long time. These canvases depict sleeping people and, according to rumors, their souls are imprisoned in these works of art. They say that the beginning of this curse was laid by the artist, who did not want to part with his dying wife, and for this, imprisoned her in the portrait he painted.

Learning about this mysterious legend, a successful businessman Voronov caught on with the idea of collecting a collection of portraits of sleepy people. He was ready to invest in his search a lot of money. For this Voronov hired art critic Agnes and a young photographer Kostya, who helped him.
However, Voronov had a serious competitor. A talented painter Alexei Tikhonov also conducts searches for such portraits. He is not going to collect them, but he wants to learn the mystery of the curse and learn how to imprison people's souls in their canvases.

Tikhonov's and Voronov's searches were considered by many as mere whims. But after the famous painter was killed, this story acquired a completely different meaning. Investigation of the murder was entrusted to Major Irina Shulyaeva, who rightfully held the position of investigator for particularly important cases. And now Shulyaeva intends not only to find out the name of the murderer, but also to understand the ancient curse. All the actors played their roles brilliantly.