I was talked into going to watch this movie by friends. Well what can I say. Two hours of my life I won't get back. Dull. Boring. Depressing. I read Imdb raving reviews before going to watch it and was bitterly disappointed. I didn't see any deep meaning or much intelligence in this movie. But saw a lot of unnecessary nudity which does not tie with the rest of the movie. To me it looked like the director was afraid that nobody will watch it without nude scenes. And possibly he was right. Another thing as Russian born woman I was insulted by the image of Russian women which was portrayed there. The main character was just a cold mega bitch, another female character was a pathetic needy damsel in distress, older lady was just plain bonkers. Main male character was bleak and boring. I didn't see any deep meaning just a very dull depressing movie with unsatisfying ending which leaves just one thought in your head: here is two hours of my life I will never get back.

The Russian-made Loveless (2018)highlights the different cinematic traditions of the East and Western blocs. In simple terms, the film displays the East's understanding of creative minimalism in contrast to the West's preference for excess: 'less is more' versus 'more is never enough'. Both narratively and in cinematography, Lovelessis a searing ultra-minimalist indictment of Russian society today.We enter the story through the eyes of 12-year old Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) dawdling home from school. He is in no rush as his family life is a battleground between divorcing parents, Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin). Most separating parents fight for custody, but these are fighting againstcustody because caring for Alyosha is inconvenient for their new love interests. The 12-year old hears everything and knows he is unwanted. One day, Zhenya learns that Alyosha has missed some days of schooling. She had not noticed, thinking he was with his father while Boris thought the opposite. Police are soon notified and refer the parents to a voluntary missing persons search organisation as Russian police 'do not handle such matters'. The rest of the film follows the detailed search against a background of toxic parental squabbling and scant regard for the fate of their son.The most outstanding feature of this film is the starkly realistic way it portrays emotional shallowness. While Zhenya and Boris displayfeelings expected of parents in their situation, we sense a difference between 'genuine' and 'expected' emotion. Nothing in their words or actions earns our empathy or sympathy. They emote externally but are privately outraged over the inconvenience of the search and the impact on their divorce affairs. Despite its simple title, Loveless is a complex essay about parents incapable of loving their own child who is struggling to survive in a society that stifles love itself.Whether you see Loveless as a statement about modern Russia or a broader essay on contemporary materialism depends on how literally you read the signs. Selfish parents exist everywhere but the film's penultimate scene is unambivalent. Several years after the search, we find Boris repeating history in his loveless handling of new offspring. We see also the self-absorbed Zhenya in an expensive garden apartment with a new wealthy partner, still obsessed with keeping up appearances. She steps onto a high-tech treadmill wearing a tracksuit emblazoned with the single word 'Russia'. Not subtle, but the director's message is unmistakable: in the process of modernisation, Russia has absorbed the worst of the West.In light of Russia's political history, it should not be surprising to see a story in which the disappearance of a human being is so quickly normalised. As a movie, it is too bleak to be entertaining and too tense to be enjoyable. But it is certainly an engrossing and disturbing glimpse behind today's translucent iron curtain.

Andrey Zvyagintsev is inarguably one of the finest of the living Russian directors, having previously made four features utilizing stunning if sparse visuals, each one emphasizing strong human relationships while dealing with significant socio-political themes. Born in Siberia in 1964, he started acting as an extra in TV and film before a friend offered him a job directing a television series. Finally, nearing 40, he received an offer to direct "The Return", a film I still consider one of the finest modern Russian films ever made, and it won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. Already winner of the Jury Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, "Loveless" is Zvyagintsev's latest, and it's a cautionary tale that paints an unbearably sad portrait of a 12-year-old boy unloved by his selfish parents going through an angry divorce, and the desperate search to find the boy after he becomes missing. Ingeniously, the child is barely shown in the film at all - although one single shot of the weeping boy hiding behind the parents' bedroom door is so memorably shattering it permeates the entire film after it. The director wisely centered the story on the parents' savage, hateful entanglements, also showing each's relationship with their new lover that the viewers know is no better than the one from which they're being estranged. Framed with Zvyagintsev's characteristic landscape shots of snow-capped trees and icy rivers, this beautiful if painful film is a must-see even though the director refuses to satisfy any expectations of a conventional audience. You won't leave the theater smiling, but you'll be deep in thought, contemplating what you've seen.

This movie is a lot of things. Very normal, beautiful frames and the human relations are being shown so honestly. I felt this movie as a very entertaining one.Audience will have such a clear view on the characters and it is all detailed with such beauty. Above all a very relevant subject been taken and shown with such ease. Don't miss this one, i highly recommend this to every movie lovers out there.