Film Threat by Alex Saveliev
A warm heart beats subliminally throughout the narrative, a tinge of hope that may be gasping for air but remains vibrant, especially when juxtaposed against the disheveled, rotten backdrop.
Critic Rating
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Director
Natalya Vorozhbit
Cast
Ihor Koltovskyi,
Andrey Lelyukh,
Anna Zhurakovskaya,
Yuliya Matrosova,
Oksana Cherkashyna
Genre
Drama
In this anthology of four short stories set on the roads of Ukraine during the Donbas war, a drunk principal tries to get through a checkpoint without his passport, teenage girls wait on a bench for their soldier boyfriends, a journalist is kidnapped, and a woman visits a farm after killing a chicken.
Film Threat by Alex Saveliev
A warm heart beats subliminally throughout the narrative, a tinge of hope that may be gasping for air but remains vibrant, especially when juxtaposed against the disheveled, rotten backdrop.
Screen Daily by Allan Hunter
Humanity is the first casualty of war in Bad Roads. Natalya Vorozhbit’s adaptation of her 2017 play is a howl of anguish over the recent history of the Ukraine and the impact of hostilities with neighbouring Russia.
Movie Nation by Roger Moore
Vorozhbit opens up her play just enough to make it cinematic, without losing the power that these disparate stories from a combat zone carry. One watches it with the hope that some day she’ll get to make another, and that Ukrainian cinemas will be open to show it, if they’re still standing.
Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang
Volorzhbit has a gift for building tension through narrative restraint and mordant humor; she also has a keen sense of misdirection.
Variety by Alissa Simon
Although the various episodes don’t quite add up to a strong narrative whole, they do gain extra resonance from current events in this troubled region.
The New York Times by Claire Shaffer
The four wartime stories in “Bad Roads” fall short on delivering any meaningful insight into the nature of conflict, relying instead on moments of lackluster tension and shock value that greatly overstay their welcome.
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