Andrey Zvyagintsev directs Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin and Matvey Novikov in this tragedy about a warring couple approaching divorce, and their child shunted further and further into the sidelines of their battles.

I have been going to movies more and more with as little knowledge as possible about them going in. I’m avoiding reviews and trailers if I know I am going to see it already. I chose this based on Zvyagintsev’s previous grim family dramas. Those showed a relentless state system forcing hardship onto a family unit, this sees the family unit tearing itself apart with the state caring very little about them. It is a very bleak film, with dessicated driftwood and derelict buildings given more favourable lighting than tender sex scenes and middle class homes. A looming ironic eye watches the drama unfold, mocking the adults more concerned about Instagram and retaining their sales jobs than giving any attention to their doomed child. Doomed? The kid is introduced in a sequence that feels like a direct lift from Don’t Look Now, all ominous pools of water, primary red clothes and unsupervised play. Going in blind meant the dark unmapped routes this explores were genuine surprises.

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