A Russian boy trains to become a cosmonaut by his sadistic grandfather.

Dark Eyes is a "steampunk" fairytale about young Anatole Ivanovich struggling to learn how heroes are manufactured. Cast out of the home by his disheartened father to endure cosmonaut training at the hands of his sadistic grandfather Dedooshka, Anatole is traumatized into manhood and thereby forced to see the world through dark eyes.