"The Covenant"
Guy Ritchie moved away from the usual crime films with a touch of branded humor and made a movie with sharp socio-political overtones. Unusual for the director, the story turned out to be holistic and action-packed.
At the center of the story is the character of Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, American Sergeant John Kinley, who leads a detachment of peacekeepers in Afghanistan. Kinley's unit is searching for objects where militants produce explosives. Ahmed (Dar Salim) cooperates as an interpreter with the US military, who works not so much for money or the promise of relocation to America, but for personal reasons: extremists killed his son. In the course of the story, Kinley's squad is ambushed, in which all the fighters are killed, except for the sergeant himself and the translator. The latter saves the commander and manages to deliver him to the base, after which a fabulous reward is assigned for the heads of both. But if Kinley flies home safely, then Ahmed is forced to hide with his family. As a result, the sergeant returns to Afghanistan to save the interpreter, to whom he owes his life.
Ritchie's new work is not just a story about duty and friendship, but a rather caustic statement about the American bureaucratic and military machine, with deep social overtones and many meanings.
The work of Dar Salim in the film is magnificent, and Gyllenhaal is a little behind him - in some moments the actor is too fond of drama and frankly overplays. But in general, neither this nor some controversial points in the course of the narrative spoil the impression of the "Translator". Even if we ignore the political background, Ritchie's film remains a smart and quite spectacular action movie that fans of the genre will appreciate.
"Until Dawn"
The new work of director Georgy Danielyants (the series "Alien") is a comedy with elements of drama, in which several stories develop in parallel, united by a common location - St. Petersburg. Events take place at night: each of the heroes gets the opportunity to change something in his fate in a few hours left before dawn.
"We really wanted to talk about the night as a way to something bright, fortunately. As you know, even after the darkest night there is always dawn, "the director quotes spbdnevnik.ru.
Viewers who managed to watch "Before Dawn" at private screenings note the memorable atmosphere of the tape, a well-chosen cast of actors and good humor.
Arseny Popov, Artyom Krylov, Sergey Gorobchenko, Anastasia Lazo, Angelina Poplavskaya, Maria Fortunatova, Yuri Galtsev and others were involved in the work on the film.
"Room of Miracles" (La chambre des merveilles)
The plot of the French-made drama "Room of Miracles" is based on the novel of the same name by Julien Sandrel and revolves around Thelma (Alexandre Lamy), whose 12-year-old son Louis (Hugo Kestel) fell into a coma after being hit by a truck.
The heroine is sure that she has a chance to wake up the child if she fulfills all his most cherished desires from the diary "Ten things to do before the end of the world." Now Thelma will have to play football with Louis' favorite team, cross the intersection in Tokyo with her eyes closed, touch the chest of a math teacher and much more - filming everything done on camera and telling her son.
The film was directed by Lisa Azuelos ("LOL [rzhunimagu]", "Summer. Classmates. Love"). The script was written by Juliette Sales ("Belle and Sebastian") and Fabien Soarez ("Family Heist").
"Patients" (The Immaculate Room)
Director Mukund Michael Deweel, known for the film "Wheelbarrow No. 19", presented a new work on his own script. The plot revolves around Mike and Kate (Emile Hirsch and Kate Bosworth) taking part in a strange experiment. According to the terms of the task, they must spend 50 days together in a huge white room without any gadgets, TV, books and other entertainment.
The daily routine of the heroes is regulated by the voice that they hear from the speakers. The voice reports violations or sets some tasks. The prize pool for successfully completing the test is $5 million, and if one of the characters leaves the room, the remaining amount is reduced to $1 million.
At first, the heroes, who were once in a relationship, decide that the experiment is their second chance. However, as the plot develops, the situation escalates more and more, exacerbated by the fact that at some point Simone appears in the room performed by Ashley Greene ("I Wish I Were Here", "Twilight") - Michael "called" her by choosing a "gift" on the room terminal.