Alex glides his mouse tenderly over online images of Vika. He has been smitten ever since he saw her with her friends and cannot get her out of his head. Unfortunately, Vika is beyond Alex’s reach because he's not welcome in her neighborhood. Nonetheless, Alex sneaks into a disco at her school and finds up the courage to ask her to dance. Moments are intense as Alex feels infatuation for the first time.
Acting
Kalyuzhny's physicality—watch him shrink and expand around Vika.
Cinematography
Handheld cameras that stalk like a teenage gaze.
Direction
Zaytsev never judges Alex, which makes it more uncomfortable.
Director
Andrey Zaytsev
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is post-Soviet coming-of-age: no economic mobility, just geographic luck of which neighborhood you're born into. The '14+' title refers to the age restriction Russian teens ignore anyway.
Zaytsev cast non-professional teenagers and filmed chronologically so their real awkwardness would build—Gleb and Ulyana only met on set, mirroring Alex and Vika's dynamic.
RU
