The Land of OZ

Vasiliy Sigarev's 2015 Russian film is a black comedy set on New Year's Eve in Yekaterinburg. Lenka Shabadinova, starting work at a kiosk, meets a succession of strange people in a single night and crosses the whole city. The structure is episodic: each encounter is its own scene and its own absurdity, all of it fed by the everyday violence and drunkenness of Russia's provincial cities. Sigarev came out of theatre, which shows in the hardness of the dialogue. The unreactive quality Yana Troyanova gives Lenka is what keeps the comedy standing: everything around her falls apart while she stays calm. The film drew critical attention in Russia but ran into distribution restrictions because of the density of its profanity. Who it's for: viewers who like Russian black comedy, episodic storytelling and films that treat social decay through humour. Who it's not for: anyone bothered by alcohol, violence and heavy profanity, or who wants the story to arrive somewhere.