The film takes place in an imagined future where Czechoslovakia has become a dystopian, totalitarian state. Harold is a young man who is struggling to find his place in this world. He is disconnected from society, living alone in an empty apartment and working in a faceless government office. When he learns that his old friend Joseph Kilian may still be alive and living in Prague, he becomes obsessed with finding him.
As he searches for Kilian, Harold becomes more and more alienated from the world around him. He meets a series of strange and enigmatic characters, including an old man who tells him the story of a cat-lending store that used to exist in the city. Intrigued by this idea, Harold impulsively decides to rent a cat for the day.
The cat becomes a symbol of Harold's loneliness and longing for connection. He takes the cat with him as he searches for Kilian, and the two become inseparable. But when Harold tries to return the cat to the store, he finds that it no longer exists. The disappearance of the cat-lending store seems to be emblematic of the larger changes that are taking place in the society.
As Harold continues his search for Kilian, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the world he is living in. He witnesses the deification of a political leader, and he realizes that he himself has been turned into a tool of the state. His journey becomes a surreal and haunting allegory for the ways in which totalitarian regimes can strip people of their humanity and isolate them from one another.
Directed by Pavel Juracek and Jan Schmidt, Joseph Kilian is a powerful and haunting work of political allegory, exploring themes of identity, alienation, and totalitarianism. It is a striking reminder of the dangers of authoritarianism, and a potent critique of the ways in which power can corrupt and destroy human relationships and communities.