Molodost: A bit dusty, but strangely real

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you enjoy staring at black-and-white grain for an hour. If you dig movies that feel like a dusty scrapbook found in an attic, you’ll probably find something to love here. If you need a movie with, you know, an actual plot that makes sense from start to finish, you are going to be bored out of your skull. 🎞️

It’s not exactly the kind of movie you put on for a fun night in. It’s the kind you watch when it’s raining and you don’t mind feeling a little melancholic. The pacing is… well, let's call it deliberate. Or maybe just sleepy. There are moments where I felt like I was waiting for something huge to happen, and then the scene just ends. It’s almost rude.

The vibe check

There is this one shot of a character looking out a window—nothing happens, no dialogue—that lasts about ten seconds too long. It starts as a quiet observation and ends as a test of my patience. Yet, I couldn't look away. There is a weird, raw honesty in how the camera just hangs there, catching the dust motes in the light.

The cast, including folks like Lavrenti Masokha and Mili Taut-Korso, they have this way of looking like they’ve seen too much for their age. It reminds me a bit of the heavy, silent weight you get in Sans famille, though the tone here is decidedly more jagged and urban.

• The lighting is either too dark or oddly bright.
• The background extras in the street scenes look like they forgot they were being filmed.
• I’m still not sure what that guy with the hat was doing in the third act.

It’s a strange beast. Sometimes it feels like it wants to be a gritty drama, and other times it’s almost trying to be lighthearted, but then someone drops a line that just cuts through the room. It’s not as polished as something like Temptation, but it has a pulse. A shaky, uneven pulse, but a pulse nonetheless. 💓

I found myself zoning out during the long walking sequences. But then I’d catch a tiny detail—a cracked glass on a table, a nervous twitch in a hand—and I’d be right back in it. It’s messy filmmaking. I think I like it for that.

Don’t go looking for deep themes or some grand commentary on the human condition. It’s just people. Moving through a world that doesn’t really care about them. Sometimes that’s enough.