Showtimes

Monday, April  23 at 7:00pm
Thursday, April  26 at 2:15pm

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Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) is the lost soul at the centre of this drama, which was co-written by director Andrey Zvyagintsev and his regular collaborator, Oleg Negin. Alyosha’s journey home from school takes him through woods littered with discarded red-and-white cordon tape, suggesting a crime scene or danger zone with the hint of a Grimm fable. Alyosha’s father, Boris (Aleksey Rozin), has taken up with a younger woman who is pregnant with his child. Meanwhile his mother, Zhenya (Maryana Spivak), has embarked on a passionate affair with a wealthy older man who calls her “the most wonderful monster in the world”.  “I never really loved anyone,” Zhenya announces blankly, confessing that she was “repulsed” by the sight of her own offspring.
And then Alyosha disappears – although his parents don’t notice until the school calls to report his absence. The police are uncaring and ineffectual (a recurrent theme of Zvyagintsev’s films), and it’s left to a volunteer group to lead the hunt for the boy, interviewing neighbours, scouring the woods, putting up “Missing” posters.

The volunteers are decent and driven, their stoical mission at odds with the dehumanising cycle of suburban life. As for the parents, the disappearance of their child merely sharpens their seething resentment, heightening the state of “lovelessness” in which (we are told) one simply cannot live.

​- The Guardian

About the film

Genres: Drama
Release Year: 2017
Runtime: 127 minutes
Countries: Russia | France | Germany | Belgium
Languages: Russian (with English subtitles)
Website: OFFICIAL WEBPAGE
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev