Scary and creepy: the horror "One whole" topped the Russian box office

Attendance in Russian cinemas increased by 100,000 viewers compared to last weekend and amounted to 0.8 million people, according to the EAIS database. The first place was unexpectedly taken by the Australian-American horror film "One Whole" starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie. Despite the 18+ rating and the fact that director Michael Shanks is a debutant, the film earned 39 million rubles and overtook domestic comedies, albeit by a small margin. So, the second place was taken by the novelty "My Dad the bear" with 35 million rubles. It was she who became the most watched film of the weekend — 100 thousand people watched it in the cinema.

The horror movie is the most successful

"One Whole" is not just a Sundance hit, it is also a contender for the title of the same fashionable horror of the year as "Get Out!", "The Witch", "Solstice" or the recent "Substance". How it was officially released in Russia is anyone's guess, given that although the film was made in Australia, it has American producers and financing. Moreover, the filmmakers even participated in the film's promotional campaign in Russia, thanks to which Izvestia released a long interview with director Michael Shanks and actors Dave Franco and Alison Brie.

The film is a genre mix: it's a romantic comedy, a family melodrama, and a body horror. For fans of the pure genre, this is a minus, but for a wide audience and rental it is an important bonus, because it expands the circle of viewers who may like the picture.

— The success of "Substance" helped the film get to the top of the rental list, after which the audience became more receptive to the body horror genre, - says Olga Zinyakova, president of the Karo cinema chain. — But the first to show the potential of the so-called new wave of horrors was "Soul Collector," which was leading the Russian box office for several weeks.

The plot of "One Whole" is both unusual and predictable. A guy and a girl who haven't been able to become husband and wife for 10 years come to the wilderness because the girl was offered a job as a teacher. After drinking some water from an underground pond, the Australian Ivanushka realizes that something is wrong with him, and Alyonushka also begins to feel strange at some point. Their bodies are inexplicably attracted to each other, even though human relations are bursting at the seams. And here Alyonushka is reminded by a teacher from a local school of Plato's concept of androgyny, a perfectly harmonious being who was divided into a man and a woman, but is burdened by this duality and is forever trying to become one again.

The film plays with this concept quite freely, but what is even more important is how cleverly the marketers used it to advertise the film. Everyone who saw the posters with the main characters' eyes and lips glued together probably felt the strongest curiosity, and the result was the first place in the Russian box office. Things aren't going so well in the United States, but even $6.8 million per weekend for such a generally modest movie is a big success. It's clear that horror can't compete with the Fantastic Four.

In Russia, due to the high turnout and prices for evening screenings, "One Whole" is in the first place, and the "Fantastic Four" hides in numerous screenings with "pre-screening service." Our horror earned 39 million rubles, the operating time per session is 5 thousand rubles.

In second place is "My Dad is a bear." The family comedy earned 35 million rubles, it was watched by 100 thousand people. One of the tricks of the film is that the bear on the poster is real, not CG. This is a product for those who liked the Palm Tree dilogy and want something else in the same spirit.

The third and fourth places are shared, respectively, by the holders "On Grandpa's Village" (21.5 million rubles) and "Not alone at home 2" (16 million rubles). Their number of sessions is decreasing, but people keep going, and the average attendance at both is like that of the novelty leaders.

In fifth place, with a little over 11 million, is the short film "Sclerosis." Perhaps it's the Fantastic Four, because there are 26 viewers per session, which is three to four times higher than the official releases.

But "Red Sonya", the most official and American release, started very sluggishly. This name is well known to those who found the era of video recorders: Arnold Schwarzenegger himself played in that "Sonya", and this was a sign of the highest quality in the USSR. But this time, Schwarzenegger is not there — and the magic did not happen, even if the film was released two weeks earlier than in the United States, which means that the pirates will definitely not find him. Sixth place, 10.5 million rubles, and four people per session.

— The film was not marked by a bright promotional campaign, so it mainly attracted the attention of the comic book community, - Olga Zinyakova explained. — The production of the painting lasted for 17 years, which affected the final product and affected the reviews of both critics and ordinary viewers. Given the not-so-promising sundress, next weekend's collections won't have much impact on the overall box office of the film.

Among the August releases that the expert suggests waiting for: the comedy "Ivan Semenov. The First Kiss" with Leon Kemstach, the adventure family film "Spy Kids" with Dmitry Nagiyev and the fantasy action film "Identification". Foreign releases include the thriller "Eden" starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas and Sidney Sweeney and the melodrama "She Said Yes!" starring Scarlett Johansson.