I Won't Come Back (2014)

Directors: Ilmar Raag, Dmitry Sheleg
Stars: Polina Pushkaruk, Vika Lobachova, Andrey Astrakhantsev

Anya, a young academic raised in an orphanage, is on the cusp of success when she’s accused of drug possession. While in limbo hiding from the police, she hits the road with Kristina, another orphan several years Anya’s junior, in search of her possibly mythical grandmother.

I saw this in the Cannes market two weeks ago and it has lingered in my mind as one of the better offerings at the festival as a whole. It appears at first to be a gritty piece of social realism in the manner of Ken Loach but gradually evolves, adding touches of humour and wistful fantasy as the protagonists break out of their urban environment and settle into a road-movie routine. A late plot development introduces a blast of harsh reality and paves the way to a bitter-sweet conclusion. Polina Pushkaruk is excellent as Anya, the young woman determined to put her past behind her, and Vika Lobacheva utterly charming as the 13-year-old who plays on her heart-strings. This is accomplished filmmaking, and Ilmar Raag is clearly not a newcomer on the scene. He does not appear to have established himself as a name in the West, but hopefully I Won't Come Back is a first step towards changing that.

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