A father and son live together in a rooftop apartment. They have lived alone for years in their own private world. Sometimes they seem like brothers, at other times they appear to be like lovers. Following in his father's footsteps, the son, Alexei attends military school. He likes sports and has problems with his girlfriend. She is jealous of Alexei's relationship with his father. Alexei's father knows he should maybe accept a better job in another...

Set in contemporary Moscow where 12 men must decide the fate of a young man accused of murdering his step-father. Consigned to a makeshift jury room, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks.

"In The Archer we meet Tetsuya, a man once famous for his prodigious gift with a bow and arrow but who has since retired from public life, and the boy who comes searching for him. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya illustrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life. Paulo Coelho's story suggests that living without a connection between action and soul cannot fulfill, that a life constricted by fear of rejection...