Sluchainaya vstrecha: Sports, Ambition, and Some Weird Choices

Is this for you?

Look, if you have a soft spot for vintage dramas where everyone looks very serious while talking about sports and duty, you'll probably like Sluchainaya vstrecha. If you need your movies to have a fast pace or actual, you know, nuance, you might want to skip this one. It is a bit dusty, honestly. It feels like a relic.

Grisha is one of those guys you immediately don't trust. He’s handsome, sure, but there’s this desperate, shiny look in his eyes whenever he talks about 'glory.' He’s training Irene, and you can tell from the start that he sees her more as a trophy than a person. It’s painful to watch him try to push his own ego onto her athletic career.

The chemistry between the leads is... well, it’s there, but it’s a bit stiff. It’s like they were directed to stand exactly three feet apart at all times unless the script demands a dramatic look. When the baby enters the picture, the whole tone of the film shifts into this weird, frantic gear. Suddenly, the sports stuff is just background noise for a domestic panic attack.

I found myself staring at the background extras in some of the training scenes. Some of them are just standing there, looking like they forgot why they were even on set. One guy in the back left just stares at his shoes for like thirty seconds straight. It was way more interesting than the dialogue.

It reminded me a little of the vibe in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford in terms of how it handles messy relationships, though obviously with a completely different cultural flavor. It’s not as polished, obviously, but it shares that same weird energy where people are constantly running away from their own messes.

Small observations:

• The lighting in the gym scenes is bizarrely moody for a place where people are supposed to be working out.
• Irene’s expressions when she realizes Grisha is a total clown are gold.
• The pacing in the middle act completely falls apart. It just stops moving.
• I really wish they had done more with the actual sport scenes, but they just seem to be an excuse for Grisha to monologue.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it worth watching on a rainy afternoon when you’ve already seen everything else? Maybe. Just don't go in expecting a deep psychological study. It is exactly what it is, which is a bit of a soap opera set in a training camp. 🤷‍♂️