★★★★
“GRIPPING and DISTURBING... ELENA is only the third feature film from this 48-year-old director, after THE RETURN...in many ways his most intimate, and the film with the most contemporary and realist character. The subtlety and stealth of this movie is a marvel...It is superbly shot and directed; it does not offer a thriller-type ending - the narrative is resolved in a disquieting minor key. A deeply satisfying film.”
Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
★★★★ “There is a beautifully realised subtlety in Andrei Zvagintsev's gripping drama.... Nadezhda Markina’s captivating performance in the title role…”
Marc Lee, DAILY TELEGRAPH
★★★★ “Andrey Zvagintsev’s multi-awarded film which follows the superb THE RETURN...paints an eloquent picture of Russian life...But the quiet truthful performance of Nedezhda Markina...enables us to believe in it…One of the very best Russian films of the past year.
Derek Malcolm, THE EVENING STANDARD
★★★★ “A morality tale that gradually assumes the weight of a Dostoevsky novel…it draws you into these complex, contradictory lives…Powerfully addressing issues of class conflict and moral decay in modern Russia”
Allan Hunter, THE DAILY EXPRESS
“A gripping resonant tale…Nadezhda Markina is outstanding as Elena and far more sympathetic than perhaps she should be”
Philip French, THE OBSERVER
★★★★ “This third film by the director of THE RETURN - his most stylish and his most accessible – is also utterly compelling”
Laurence Phelan, INDEPENDENT RADAR
★★★★ “Zvyagintsev’s subtly chilling film”
Olivia Marks, THE SUNDAY TIMES
★★★★ “A sparse and elegant piece of work…searingly eloquent scenes…this is accomplished filmmaking, bold in every way.”
Wendy Ide, THE TIMES
★★★★ “ A Russian exercise in lull and ambush, a tale about priority and loyalty…which is constantly enlivened by a Philip Glass score”
Leo Robson, THE FINANCIAL TIMES
★★★★ “Zvyagintsev, who also made the magnificent THE RETURN, is proving himself a major talent.”
Anthony Quinn, THE INDEPENDENT
★★★★ “Russia’s Andrei Zvyagintsev has emerged as one of Europe’s finest directors… This is a quietly powerful, brilliant film, and ice burns in its heart.”
Jason Solomons, THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
★★★★ “ The corrupting power of money runs through the veins of this superb Russian film…This is smart, gripping cinema.”
Dave Calhoun, TIME OUT
Critics’ Choice:
“This powerful drama about a grandmother married to a wealthy husband acts as a striking allegory of the new Russia”
Dave Calhoun, TIME OUT
“Terrific…Tense, edge-of-the-seat stuff.”
Peter Bradshaw (Jury), Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard
★★★★★
“A sensational Russian drama... a film to crow about loudly...Elena has the taut dramatic structure of a Dostoyevsky parable, matched with mesmerising long-take technique, a hushed, disquieting soundscape, and images that jangle in your head for days.”
Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph
'CRITICS’ PICK. Brilliant and gripping.'
- Stephen Holden, THE NEW YORK TIMES
'Spellbinding and impeccably crafted.... Performances are superb across the board, framed in elegant widescreen compositions that simmer with violence.'
- Sheri Linden, LOS ANGELES TIMES
'PICK OF THE WEEK! Mesmerizing! A mysterious existential thriller that’s brilliantly acted and masterfully directed, without a second of wasted screen time.'
- Andrew O’Hehir, SALON
'Grounded in classic elements of film noir but lensed with a stillness that becomes paradoxically nerve-rattling...a thriller about the shifting moral calculus in a world where money changes everything.'
- Steve Dollar, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
'Stunning...An outstanding Russian drama of fractured families, money and quiet desperation.'
- Neil Young, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
'A wise and impeccably controlled drama that finds Russian helmer Andrei Zvyagintsev in outstanding form.... Zvyagintsev spins a taut, engrossing yarn about a coveted inheritance, cruel class differences and quietly monstrous misdeeds.'
- Justin Chang, VARIETY
'As much thriller as character study, “Elena” is compelling not only for the situation it maps but the social milieu that it depicts.'
J. Hoberman, ART INFO
'An intensely compelling slice of noir about moral rot and class warfare in post-Soviet Russia....A bone-deep existential unease and spiritual alienation, a preoccupation with sin that is at once quintessentially Russian and wholly archaic..... [Zvyagintsev’s] vision of eternal human frailty is inescapably tragic and religious — and brutally unforgiving.'
- Ella Taylor, NPR Radio
'Devastating! I can't recommend it highly enough...a distressingly universal tale of haves and have-nots, not to mention an apt reminder that morality and ethics can be slippery propositions when other interests drive us.'
- Tim Greirson, IFC.COM
'Impeccably composed, stark visuals lending a near-apocalyptic mood that permeates every frame. Andrey Zvyagintsev taps into the rich tradition of film noir, as well as the influence and cultural echoes of such diverse Russian forebears as Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Tarkovsky.'
- Christopher Bourne, TWITCH
'Extraordinary... Grounded by Markina’s magnificent performance...brilliantly shot by Zvyagintsev regular Krichman, and its chill heightened by hyper, excited bursts from Glass’s score.'
- Howard Feinstein, SCREEN DAILY
