‘It is total anarchy. If you get used to it, you’ll survive.’ So says the eccentric Vova (a deadpan Viktor Zhdanov) to our hero, city-bred interpreter Lukas (Serhiy Stepansky), after the latter finds himself separated from his fellow OSCE security inspection team in Ukraine’s war-torn southern steppes. Things begin to get very strange very quickly for the clueless outsider: he is quickly relieved of his passport and money, and, with Vova and his beautiful daughter Marushka (Khrystyna Deilyk) doing their best to help, Lukas is led into a surreal pilgrim’s progress that would test anyone’s sanity… Roman Bondarchuk’s visually resplendent (kudos to cinematographer Vadym Ilkov for some truly stunning imagery) and very dark comedy charts one man’s descent into a world without rules, a world where a city boy might find himself thrown into a sun-baked pit for no reason—and maybe learn a thing or two, adapt, and even start to love his crazy surroundings…

‘A poetically surreal love letter to an untamed corner of the Wild East… [Bondarchuk’s film is a] mix of Kafka-esque road movie and contemporary Western, rich in sumptuous visuals and lyrical strangeness. There are hints of David Lynch’s macabre absurdism here, but also some agreeably carnivalesque interludes reminiscent of Federico Fellini [and] Emir Kusturica… A beautifully crafted work.’—Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter