After suffering from a heart attack, a wealthy elderly Russian man plans to will most of his estate to his estranged daughter, but his titular wife has other plans.
Direction
Zvyagintsev's clinical, unblinking observation
Cinematography
Pale green hospital light vs. golden apartment prison
Acting
Markina's face—every flicker of calculation
Director
Andrey Zvyagintsev
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Philip Glass score was Zvyagintsev's temp track; he kept it. Those repetitive arpeggios? Your anxiety soundtrack.
Elena's apartment complex is a real Moscow suburb—the film's class geography is documentary-sharp. She walks through wealth she'll never touch.
RU
