Your Company
 

Captain Volkonogov Escaped(Капитан Волконогов бежал)

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Russia, France, Estonia · 2023
2h 6m
Director Alexey Chupov, Natalya Merkulova
Starring Yuriy Borisov, Timofey Tribuntsev, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Tolstoganova
Genre Drama, Thriller

Fast-paced story of pre-death repentance marathon for the Captain of the National Security Service (NKVD) Fedor Volkonogov set against the backdrop of 1938 political persecutions in USSR.

We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.

What are people saying?

What are critics saying?

100

The Playlist by Carlos Aguilar

Merkulova and Chupov don’t capture their elaborately ambiguous thesis on good and evil via dialogue but in a riveting and ferocious pilgrimage that culminates on a savagely spiritual note.

60

Variety by Jessica Kiang

Merkulova and Chupov deliver the visceral aspects of this Dostoevskian tale particularly well ... But 'Captain Volkogonov Escaped' is so attuned to the physical that the more metaphysical aspects of Volkogonov’s journey are underdeveloped by comparison.

90

Screen Daily by Jonathan Romney

A powerful and troubling drama about the Stalin era. ... This is a film to revel in, and to argue about – and for some, no doubt, to recoil from – but it’s one of the most original works of the year, and a stand-out of what is proving a rich spell in Russian cinema.

80

The Guardian by Xan Brooks

Its line of attack is remorseless, an ongoing rain of hammer blows, and yet it never feels especially dour or heavy. If anything, Chupov and Merkulova’s handling of the material is almost playful, choosing to frame Stalin’s Russia as nightmarish deadpan comedy.

Users who liked this film also liked