A summary of "The Cloud" by Arkady Strugatsky

The 1986 science fiction screenplay "Cloud," based on the novella "Ugly Swans," is distinguished by its unique atmosphere of doom and hope. A crucial detail of this work is that the authors completely eliminated the mysterious mutant midges from the plot, leaving Cloud itself as the primary embodiment of the approaching Future.

Arrival of Professor Nordland

Professor of meteorology Nurlann returns to his hometown, plunged into darkness and dampness. For months, an anomalous Cloud has hung over the houses. It pours down rain incessantly, turning the townspeople’s lives into endless water torture. Nurlann arrives in a black limousine, guarded by soldiers. The colonel demands decisive action from the scientist. The professor has brought forty-five artillery shells filled with a toxic coagulant. This chemical is capable of destroying any aerosol formations over an area of tens of square kilometers.

Nurlann examines photographs of the anomaly. He sees the Cloud literally seeping through the concrete walls of multi-story buildings. The inspector accompanying him turns out to be an old friend of the professor’s named Brun. A formerly talented poet, he now works as a simple sanitary doctor. Along the way, they witness a strange procession of people in chlamydes. Brun explains that they are cultists. They have abandoned their homes and call themselves "Lambs of the Last Judgment."

Conflict with former family

A professor attempts to visit his ex-wife, Laura. Her luxurious apartment stands in stark contrast to the devastation plaguing the streets. The meeting takes place in the presence of a lawyer and quickly escalates into a confrontation. Laura hates her ex-husband and demands he sign official papers. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass is heard from the depths of the apartment. Irma openly rebels against her mother. A stunned Nordland signs the papers and hurries away.

Late in the evening, a scientist is driving through a pouring rain. He notices two tall men brutally beating a teenager. Nurland grabs a crowbar and rushes to his aid. One of the attackers turns out to be a professional fighter and knocks the professor down with a powerful blow. The bandits disappear into the darkness. A rescued boy named Cyprian helps Nurland up. The professor invites the drenched teenager into his hotel room.

Strange children of the city

Nurland’s daughter, Irma, is waiting for him in his hotel room. The teenagers are markedly cold and distant. They discuss the primitiveness of human instincts with a frightening maturity. Irma and Cyprian invite the scientist to meet their peers. The town’s children have been profoundly changed by the anomaly. They have become brilliant, emotionless, and completely alien to their parents.

The next day, Nordland meets another old friend. Former Judge Hansen now wanders the streets, singing songs for drinks. A drunken Hansen cries and complains about the endless rain. He declares the city is breathing water, and this is the beginning of a completely new era. Soon, Nordland takes a helicopter to survey the anomaly from a height of several hundred meters. The military is preparing to launch an artillery strike.

In the old school building, the professor meets with the town’s teenagers. Among them is Mikkel, the son of the fallen judge Hansen. The children beg Nordland to call off the bombing. They claim that the Cloud is alive and sentient. It protects them and prepares them for a new life. The teenagers openly declare their break with the adult world. They no longer need guardianship and despise the cruelty of human society.

The Inevitability of the Future

The conflict between generations reaches its breaking point. The military orders the operation. Chemical shells tear through the skies, attempting to destroy the dense mass of the Cloud. The city’s adults panic. They try to flee or, in their fury, destroy everything around them. The police are powerless against the general madness. Teenagers abandon their homes once and for all. Irma leaves the distraught Laura without looking back. The children vanish into the shroud of rain, heading for the very center of the anomaly.

The use of a toxic coagulant leads to unpredictable consequences. The cloud doesn’t disperse, but rather transforms. The rain suddenly stops. The city is reduced to rubble, through which bright green grass emerges. The surviving adults gather in the square. Ragged, dirty, and distraught, they stare silently at the professor.

Nurlann understands that humanity has lost the battle. He delivers a desperate speech, addressing the invisible Future. The professor acknowledges the arrogance, greed, and cruelty of his generation. People committed abominations and hid behind grandiose words. The scholar begs not to punish the deceived crowd. He offers to sacrifice himself: "If you must punish millions, then punish me alone a million times over."

The finale

Complete silence falls. Large flakes of white snow begin to fall from the cloudless sky. A clear trumpet blast resounds in the distance. Horsemen slowly emerge from the snowy shroud. They are transformed children, transformed into perfect beings. Cyprian, with his young blond beard, sits confidently in the saddle of a snow-white horse. Irma, wearing an orange jumpsuit, gallops atop a chestnut stallion, carefully holding a giant green dragonfly in her palm. Mikkel rides a black horse and blows a golden trumpet.

Teenagers float past kneeling adults. They look over the heads of their former parents. The children are completely absorbed in their own thoughts and the new world. They don’t notice the filthy ruins of the old city. The future had no intention of judging or forgiving humanity. It simply went its own way.