Sometimes the medium really is the message, and rarely is the case proven so extravagantly as in first-time director Igor Voloshin’s remarkable depiction of contemporary St. Petersburg. The plot – involving young Russians struggling with sex and drugs and Joy Division songs, as young people are wont to do just about everywhere – seems little more than an excuse for Voloshin and his production designer, costume designers, and hair-and-makeup artists to go wild. There are times when the term ‘artist’ seems pretentious when applied to hair and makeup. This is not one of those times.

Imagine Rembrandt remaking Blade Runner - or a cyberpunk junkie remake of Russian Ark, that other masterpiece of St. Petersburg aesthetics. Cinematographer Dmitriy Yashonkov completes Voloshin’s team of visual visionaries, and gives the film an almost delirious color scheme. The result is not just the best designed and best-looking film we’ve seen in a long time, but a sensory experience that announces the arrival of a new generation of Russian film artists.

Sindre Kartvedt