A Ukrainian cousin duo plot escape from arranged marriage, folklore monsters, and the men who'd rather bury them.
Five-year-old Vitka and her teenage cousin Larysa both yearn for a life beyond the archaic rules and restricting confines of their small, godforsaken Ukrainian village. Despite her family's staunch objections, Larysa falls wildly in love with Scar, a handsome ex-convict. Hoping to leave their troubled past behind, the two plot their escape. Scar agrees to take on a criminal job in the city. Larysa, meanwhile, fends off an arranged marriage and awaits his return.
Direction
Nikitiuk's debut balances magical realism with brutal social realism.
Cinematography
Ukrainian forests shot like they're swallowing characters whole.
Acting
Pustovit's Larysa burns with trapped-animal desperation.
Director
Marysia Nikitiuk
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Nikitiuk draws on Ukrainian 'mavka' folklore—forest spirits of women who died violent deaths—reframing them as feminist symbols rather than warnings.
The film premiered at Berlinale 2018, making Nikitiuk the first Ukrainian woman director in competition there; critics called it 'a punch to the solar plexus.'
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