Bibicha is a young woman who suddenly refuses to speak, and conceals herself from villagers in the house of her grandmother Khanjarmomo. Khanjarmomo lives with her illegally born granddaughter Sharifa; they both support Bibicha in her vow of 40 days of silence, which she carries out in hopes of being rejoined by her recently disappeared lover. Yet Khanjarmomo doubts the girl's motives: is the vow really for the sake of her beloved, or is she trying to hide an illicit pregnancy?
During her stay in her grandmother’s house, Bibicha undergoes a strange relationship with Sharifa’s mother, Khamida, who suddenly comes back to the village after years abroad. This creates a tension since Khanjarmomo is afraid that Khamida wants to take away Sharifa, as the woman never explains a reason of her return. Four women of four generations, four characters trying to find a place for themselves in present day Uzbekistan. Over the course of 40 days Bibicha witnesses a strange bond that is created between the four women in one house.

"40 days of silence" is a story about women confronting crucial decisions: motherhood, the weight of tradition, homeland, sexuality, emotional expression, religion or self-destruction in modern society. The characters are inspired from situations lived by those who are close to me. Aside from women's issues, I would like to explore an idea of lost identity, of living a complex re-evaluation and transformation of human values in a society deeply rooted in Islam, a society that was reshaped by communism and has recently become independent. How does this transformation "echo" in women's destinies, and in the way they perceive and confront their lives? The film is an experiment in approaching and beginning to unveil the blood-and-guts realities of Uzbek women's intimate relations.