The talented and practical journalist German Krylov, in pursuit of sensation, finds himself in a company that sells a feeling of love. Unexpectedly for himself, he becomes the object of manipulation and falls into a trap from which it is difficult to get out.
Direction
Oldenburg's claustrophobic framing traps you with German.
Acting
Khamatov's unraveling is genuinely uncomfortable to witness.
Director
Polina Oldenburg
Shamil Khamatov
German Krylov
Igor Petrenko
President of Ad libitum
Darya Belousova
the girl everyone falls in love with
Evgeniya Kregzhde
Nika
Anton Fedorov
Fil
Kristina Babushkina
redactor
Karen Badalov
Arthur Mamedov
Ivan Stebunov
Ad libitum client
Egor Rybakov
Dmitry Tikhonov
Viktoriya Chernysheva
Dmitriy Sharakois
Oleg Morozov
Alexander Evgenievich
Mikhail Dovzhenko
Aleksandr Ilyin Jr
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ad Libitum satirizes Russia's booming wellness industry and gig-economy isolation, where emotional labor gets outsourced just like everything else.
The title refers to musical improvisation without boundaries — ironic given German's complete lack of agency. Oldenburg reportedly shot the office scenes in an actual abandoned call center.
RU
