90
Screen Daily by Fionnuala Halligan
Bold and brave, like its protagonist, Pamfir gorges on its imagery, with the final visual marker sending shivers down the spine.
Pamfir (Памфір)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Ukraine
- 2022
- · 106m
Director
Dmytro Sukholytkyi-Sobchuk
Cast
Oleksandr Yatsentiuk,
Solomiia Kyrylova,
Stanislav Potiak,
Olena Khokhlatkina,
Myroslav Makoviichuk,
Ivan Sharan,
Oleksandr Yarema,
Andrii Kyrylchuk,
Ihor Danchuk,
Petro Chychuk
Genre
Drama,
Crime
When reformed ex-smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he’s determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep him at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed.
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What are critics saying?
80
The Irish Times by Tara Brady
Masculinity has seldom been more cartoonishly toxic than in Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s compelling hair-trigger drama.
80
Empire by David Parkinson
Visually striking and explosively violent, this simmering parable makes exceptional use of its rustic locations — and the faces of a vibrant cast — to reinforce a sense of authenticity.
80
The Observer (UK) by Wendy Ide
It’s a bold, arresting debut from writer-director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, who balances muscular, crime-thriller tropes against moments of striking, unsettling beauty, tension and urgency against knottily complex character development. Highly recommended.
80
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
There is something nightmarish and hallucinatory about this business and also in the terrible retribution exacted by Oreste, a grotesque mob chieftain. The film has a throb of something disturbing and transgressive.
80
Little White Lies by David Jenkins
This tale of a tough loner forced to test his mettle certainly has political resonance beyond its intimate telling here.
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