Intermission

Anna Kuznetsova's 2024 Russian film follows a school group travelling to Sochi for a theatre festival. Tanya, a young teacher, and an experienced head teacher accompany twelve teenagers. The two teachers do not get along at first. The film uses the trip as a pretext and mainly watches how authority is established; the teenagers set up an order of their own and the adults are left outside it. The narrative rests on observation rather than event. Hotel rooms, rehearsal halls and scenes by the sea are held long; there is humour in the tone but no resolution. Who it's for: those who like contemporary Russian cinema and observational drama. Who it's not for: viewers who want a clear plot; the film is made almost entirely of situations.