Maksim, the protagonist of the story, wants his father's attention. The father left Maksim's mother and married another woman and had another child with her. The father yet has another mistress names Anna. Clearly, the father is a very busy man. Maksim goes to extreme lengths to get his father's attention. He is clearly a disturbed young man. He probably didn't get much love before and neither he does now. Even his girlfriend doesn't seem to care for him much. So Maksim decides to kill the dad's mistress...
The logic behind Maksim's decision is somewhat vague. It just seems like a bad idea that came into his head randomly. We follow him for about an hour of the film's running time. What we see doesn't make us feel much empathy for Maksim - if anything, personally, I was slightly annoyed as the film drags on - he is a thieving, trouble-making little s...t.. "Hurt people hurt people" is kind of a script here.
Artem Yakovlev's debut as Maksim is a decent acting entry into the film industry but the true star of this movie is Darya Ekamasova as Anna. When the narrative truly focuses on her in the last part of the movie, the story comes to life. Ekamasova's nuanced subtle performance is worth waiting for. Anna is heartbreaking - you root for her. She is the allegory of thousands of wonderful Russian women who have the misfortune of not being able to find decent men and, often, settle for those who are not available or not worth their time, or both. Anna breeds dogs for a living. She is caring and loving because, of course, this job requires exactly that kind of a person to do it right. In one of the scenes when she talks about puppies, she mentions buyers mostly want male puppies - they are more expensive than female puppies. It's a metaphor for the general state of misogyny in a society where whether you're a human or a puppy, you're easily discarded as a female.
Artem Yakovlev's debut as Maksim is a decent acting entry into the film industry but the true star of this movie is Darya Ekamasova as Anna. When the narrative truly focuses on her in the last part of the movie, the story comes to life. Ekamasova's nuanced subtle performance is worth waiting for. Anna is heartbreaking - you root for her. She is the allegory of thousands of wonderful Russian women who have the misfortune of not being able to find decent men and, often, settle for those who are not available or not worth their time, or both. Anna breeds dogs for a living. She is caring and loving because, of course, this job requires exactly that kind of a person to do it right. In one of the scenes when she talks about puppies, she mentions buyers mostly want male puppies - they are more expensive than female puppies. It's a metaphor for the general state of misogyny in a society where whether you're a human or a puppy, you're easily discarded as a female.