Some time ago three total strangers participated in a cheesecake commercial. A mother, a father and a son were simply having tea at a dinner table, but for the boy from a dysfunctional family the shot where they were eating a cake together became an obsession; he dreams about another “family” gathering at the same table. Alyosha does not care that his “mom”, Natalia, has been married for a long time, and that his “dad”, Mikhail, has a girlfriend.
Acting
Melenchuk's dead-eyed longing.
Direction
Zvezdakov's clinical, voyeuristic framing.
Director
Yevgeni Zvezdakov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Post-Soviet Russia's 2000s advertising boom created bizarre aspirational imagery that this film weaponizes.
The 86-minute runtime mirrors commercial length—Zvezdakov traps you in the same loop as Alyosha.
RU
