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The excellent cast delivers pulsating performances that reflect the film's edgy pacing and production design. Ivan Trojan is excellent as a man of faith who knows the limits of his seemingly miraculous abilities. As the younger Jan, Josef Trojan has the same steely resolve, with added youthful ambition as he begins to understand obstacles he'll face. And Loj has terrific physicality as Frantisek, generating strong chemistry that makes the central relationship feel complex and real.

When Jan and Frantisek's (apparently fictional) love story emerges about halfway in, the film smoothly shifts direction to take in both social bigotry and Jan's literally crippling guilt. Their relationship is tender and pointed, strained by the fact that both must have wives to maintain respectability. The script never directly comments on this, and it never questions whether Jan might have been a fraud, but big ideas echo in this story of a man who was a suspect simply because he refused play by imposed modern rules. And the concluding moments are powerfully moving.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

27.Apr.21

Laurent is terrific in a demanding role, digging deeply right from the start. It's a physical performance within a limited space, and Liz's tenacity in this situation is remarkable as she attempts to piece together the fragments of information in her memories or on the screen above her. But what she discovers seems naggingly unreliable, and she struggles to trust her instincts about what she sees and hears. The solid supporting cast appears either in gauzy cutaways or superbly expressive voices.

There's a lovely, subtle sense that workaholic Liz is realising which things are truly important to her, namely the people who occupy her heart. But this is a thriller, so Aja uses kinetic camera trickery to keep things popping, while LeBlanc's script drops perhaps too many clues and surprises into the mix. The full revelation is both intriguing and more than a little overwrought, including a twist that ropes in some present-day relevance along with a lot of race-against-time exhilaration.

themes, language, violence

12.May.21

There's a deep connection between Juraj and Michal that's beautifully played by Skyva and Polakovic, almost entirely wordlessly. All conversations have to be held in secret, sharing information without comment, and they rarely get a chance to connect more personally, feeling guilty that they're keeping secrets from each other. Ivanov has a dry menace as the government stooge, and he brings a chilling energy to his scenes with Strnisko's weary Dean, whose only desire is to save the school.

Many of Ostrochovsky's filmmaking touches are experimental, disclosing key information in ways that are inventive and provocative. And because so much is revealed visually, watching the movie is often mesmerising, quietly building layers of subtext along with a riveting ripple of suspense. This is a profound exploration of how totalitarian ideas rattle historical foundations, attempting to bend conflicting ideologies to their will. And while it vividly recreates a pivotal point in history, the film also has a lot to say to our post-truth era.

themes, language, violence

5.May.21