English summary

‘Breathtaking cinema!’

‘Chillingly beautiful, mysterious and accessible’

This cinematographic masterpiece from Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, The Return) was awarded the Jury Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

Boris en Zhenya are in the middle of a divorce. Before the eyes of their only son, they quarrel endlessly and strive to be rid of each other and their apartment as quickly as they can as each makes arrangements for a future without the other. Boris is involved with a young woman who is now carrying his baby, and Zhenya is seeing a rich man. They are completely absorbed by their own lives, and neither seems to care about their 12-year-old son Alyosha ­– until he vanishes. 

The image of this boy growing up in a modern Russian middle-class environment where, materially, he has everything he needs, is a metaphor for the way Russia treats its citizens and its previous satellite states. Zvyagintsev created this chilling psychological thriller against decors of snow and shadows. Gripping and elegant, yet very accessible, exciting and compelling. Exactly the right combination for a masterpiece.