Rhino (2021) User Reviews

Grim but accurate depiction of the 90's in Ukraine

[Zzzaratustra · 7/10 · 22 May 2022]

A sad and bloody tale of the whole generation lost amid the ruins of Soviet Empire. As someone who happened to be a teenager during the 90's in Ukraine, I find the brutality of daily life and decaying environment to be very believable.

Good actors, a great director that offers no moral judgement, just a simple, easy to follow story about traumatized society.

This movie is not for everybody. If it didn't look like a documentary about my own life, I probably wouldn't have recommend it to anyone. If you meet a Ukrainian in their 40's or 50's and want to understand why they are the way they are, then watch this movie.

Perhaps the first good crime drama in Ukrainian language

[mace-ua · 7/10 · 17 June 2022]

Great movie depicting 1990s in Ukraine and life of criminals in the country during this period. Big kudos to Oleg Sentsov for using Ukrainian language: even though this isn't historically accurate, it sounds very organic and proves Ukrainian can be used in any setting.

Crime is not the answer

[darklordsimf · 8/10 · 15 February 2022]

If we talk about this movie, we have to understand some context. Forget about "Gamer". This is a real debut of Oleh Sentsov.

About the subject: It's OK. In every case OK. Not genius, with addicted to genre cliche, but the most important thing - it works. It is interesting to watch the movie from the beginning till the end.

Characters: Nice cast. You believe in personalities. If they say, a bandit has nickname Skull - you understand why.

Visual: a little bit more of hand camera and non-stabled plans, but in fact good. Especially there is no romantic vision of 90-s in Ukraine. Brutal time looks brutal and it's good.

In general I will recomend this movie, but not for people who doesn't like brutal violence.

Visceral and Raw

[dhargrov18 · 9/10 · 24 October 2021]

Fortunate to see this at the Venice Film Festival and what a crazy ride. Forced to be up and close with characters in a world that has no breaks. Felt transported and loved every minute of it. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Really good movie about very bad times

[seojhn · 10/10 · 28 May 2022]

I love the beginning of the movie. Short and clear explanation of the main character standing. Every shot matters and gives you a lot of information.

The main part is hard to watch. The story about criminal world in the small Ukrainian town in the 90-s. It is dirty, it is cruel and it is ugly. There were no romantic, funny jokes and happiness, so you shouldn't wait for it. The movie is very fair about that and will not mislead you.

I don't believe in the penitence of the main hero. And I didn't like how the story ends, but art makes you think and talk.

Poor directing but worth content

[searchanddestroy-1 · 16 April 2023]

This Ukrainian crime film, speaking of a petty hoodlum story, is certainly not for the squeamish, not for the sissies. It is brutal, bloody, cruel, but not without spirit. It is brilliant, a real testimony of the Ukrainian society, hopeless, desperate, but not without conscience. This petty hoodlum diary is predictable and the extreme violence never gratuitous, at last that's my own opinion. It is gritty, tough but poignant, sensitive, gloomy and not for all audiences. I have seen such films from indie film industries from many countries and I really love this. Forget the Hollywood crap. Watch this instead. The opening sequence in a long take is incredible.

Fell asleep on the movie

[funny-house-39380 · 1/10 · 18 February 2022]

Boring, drawn out, I do not recommend.

A movie without a plot, just a little bit and really nothing, it's not worth spending time watching a movie, especially for money.

A perfectly filmed time capsule

[marktomato · 9/10 · 9 March 2022]

As with any festival movie, if you don't want to waste time and disappoint yourself, you need to know exactly what to expect if you're going to watch it.

Nosorih doesn't have any deep meaning or plot behind it. But that's because it is an extremely realistic human story and a perfect showcase of the time period it is placed in.

For example, even the attempts of the main hero to talk about the sense of life are ridiculously awkward and laughable - but that's exactly the type of thoughts a man with his background is capable of.

Decorations and scenery, language and intonations, absence of morality and presence of extreme brutality, music and atmosphere overall perfectly represent Ukraine in the 90s.

I also really liked the ending, in my opinion this is exactly the choice a man like Nosorih could come up with while looking for salvation.

Hard film with artistic scenes and details

[evrandaselven · 10/10 · 20 February 2022]

Masterpiece cocktail of 90s life! Scenes are so dramatic and were made like visual art. This film is very close to the lever of "Oscar films" i used to go for to the cinema, and also so close to real life. I believed so many times, but of course it's not ideal. I like the scenes if life much more then philosophical talks in the car. The end was not disappointing!

Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director, was detained in Crimea in May 2014 and sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison on charges of terrorism. Senstov was freed from a Russian penal colony after more than five years of detention.

Existential crisis in a movie

[glukozavr · 9/10 · 24 February 2022]

It's a very atmospheric movie of great quality. The time of Ukraine history after USSR, when people didn't know what to do. It is strong, harsh, but realistic and depressing movie. But it shows what we've gone through - it's all have taken place. And this scares the most. There is no romance about a bandit life, but it will make you feel something.

Best Ukrainian film ever!

[dmitriytsykhonia · 10/10 · 17 February 2022]

An unexpectedly excellent dynamic movie, at the level of the best Russian films about the 90s, but without romanticism.

For anyone who loves crime movies, this is a must see.

Cruel, bloody but amazingly directed story

[iraandriievska · 9/10 · 22 July 2023]

The plot quite precisely describes the life of Ukrainians in 90th. From the start you see all the nostalgic elements tastefully implemented in the movie.

I got stunned watching the movie with open mouth.

Minus one star just because at the beginning it was hard to follow, as they fast-forwarded the growing up time of the main character. I would love to see a bit more of that or have more explicit separation between the timeframes changing.

The ending didn't suit perfectly into the plot as for my opinion. That was rather symbolic and artistic solution, but definitely not something that could have happened in real life.

But overall, I am happy and proud to see what are the modern standards of Ukrainian cinematography.

Sympathy For The Devil?

[shill-77600 · 8/10 · 22 April 2023]

In my opinion this is quite a remarkable piece of storytelling. Dark, brutal - very, very brutal - but never quite bleak. You see the humanity that is - or, at least was - in the central character and you hope he can find some kind of salvation. Will he find redemption, or sink deeper into the quagmire of his life. Or will justice catch up with him? No spoilers...

This is the kind of film I usually hate. They often portray a fantasy criminal world, with a 'good guy' who lives happily ever after, or portray the the criminals as the dregs of society and you don't care what happens to them. This movie manages to be completely different and keeps you interested right to the end.

I'm glad I liked this film. Sentsov became something of a hero to me after his imprisonment (even though I'm too old to have heroes and he would hate to be a hero to anyone). He's a man of intelligence, integrity and courage, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work.