A gripping war drama that tells the story of Maria Petrova, in whose fate, as in a mirror, the fate of the country was reflected: the daughter of a priest, who renounced her father and the faith, she serves in the NKVD. On the eve of the battle for Moscow, Maria meets the clairvoyant eldress Matrona, and soon it is Maria who is tasked to deliver to Moscow the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, located behind the front line in the occupied territory...
Cinematography
Snow-choked landscapes that feel spiritually frozen
Acting
Lugovaya's guarded transformation from believer to weapon
Production
Authentic period detail in uniforms and Orthodox ritual
Director
Vera Storozheva
Mariya Lugovaya
Maria Petrova
Artur Smolyaninov
Father Vladimir
Ilya Malakov
Sergeant
Sergey Puskepalis
Commissioner
Olga Lapshina
Eldress
Sergej Kolesnikov
Vasiliy Stepanovich
Valery Gorin
Stalin
Vadim Medvedev
Beriya
Yuriy Maslak
German officer-translator
Alla Malkova
Parishioner
Ulyana Fomichyova
Landlady
Dmitriy Mazurov
Pavel Minaev
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film sparked debate in Russia about state-funded religious cinema, with critics questioning whether the NKVD-agent protagonist sanitizes Soviet history or critiques it through her suffering.
Director Vera Storozheva spent three years securing permission to film inside active Russian Orthodox monasteries, making this one of few post-Soviet productions with authentic liturgical locations.
RU
