Dzhou: A strange, quiet slog worth your time if you're bored

Is it worth the watch?

If you like movies that feel like they were filmed in someone's backyard during a particularly humid summer, sure. Dzhou is definitely for the crowd that enjoys staring at textures and long, uncomfortable pauses. If you need a plot that actually moves from A to B without taking a nap in the middle, you’re going to hate this. Honestly, I think I fell asleep twice, but the weird part is I didn't feel like I missed anything important.

There is a scene about thirty minutes in where Ivan Bykov just stares at a wall for what felt like ten minutes. I checked my watch. It was actually four minutes. It felt like an hour. It wasn't profound or anything, it was just… a guy looking at a wall while a fly buzzed somewhere off-screen.

The cinematography is kind of a mess. Sometimes the lighting is perfect, and you think, hey, this looks like a real movie, and then the camera shakes like the operator was having a caffeine crash. It reminds me of the pacing in The Sawdust Doll, but with less charm and way more dirt.

Fun-Tyn Dzhan is the only one who seems to know what's going on, or at least he’s the only one who isn't trying too hard. Viktor Plotnikov, on the other hand, seems to be acting in a completely different genre. He’s all wide eyes and heavy breathing, like he’s in a high-stakes thriller, while everyone else is just trying to finish the day's shoot.

Some random notes:

• The sound mixing is atrocious. You can hear the crew talking in the background of that one scene in the alleyway.
• I’m pretty sure the same wooden crate appears in three different locations.
• The ending makes absolutely no sense, but it felt right, you know?

It’s not as polished as Fog Over Frisco, but it has this weird, grimy energy. It’s not trying to be a masterpiece. It’s just trying to exist. Sometimes that’s enough, but today? Maybe not. 🤷‍♂️

I caught myself looking at the background extras more than the leads. There’s a guy in a tan hat who walks past the frame five different times in the same scene. Does he have a twin? Did they just forget to tell him to stop walking? It’s these little, broken details that make the movie better than it has any right to be.

Don't expect a revelation. Don't expect to remember much of it by tomorrow. It’s just a movie that takes up space in the best, most confusing way possible.