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Russia, Poland, Belgium · 2020
1h 33m
Director Philipp Yuryev
Starring Vladimir Onokhov, Kristina Asmus, Vladimir Lyubimtsev, Nikolai Tatato
Genre Drama
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15-year-old Leshka lives in an isolated village on the Bering Strait. Like most men there, he is a whale hunter. When internet arrives in the village, Leshka becomes infatuated with a webcam model from America. Determined to meet her in real life, he sets forth on a dangerous adventure across the sea.
The Whaler Boy is an engaging, somewhat fraught look at coming-of-age, sexual awakening, and a broken mind. Onokhov brings the role to mesmerizing life and is supported by a good secondary cast, though they’re playing thinly written parts. But, the epic look and majesty of the visuals carry this drama over any rough waters it occasionally hits.
There’s merit in this story, which takes its hero on a circular path back to what anchors him in his world. But the novelty of the setting and the characters doesn’t mean we give the storyteller, who gets lost in the sordid sexual side of life above the Arctic Circle, a pass.
The Film Stage by Rory O'Connor
All that flare and stealthy humor give the familiar sense of a young director attempting to flex every creative muscle at once. Seldom is this advised, yet it’s nothing if not thrilling to watch.
What The Whaler Boy lacks in story complexity and character depth, it more than makes up in its bone-deep immersion in Lyoshka’s world.
Slant Magazine by William Repass
The film is a vivid rumination on the fuzzy border between fantasy and reality.