Hot Shop: Joaquin Phoenix on Fire, Harry Melling in the Ashes

Bakur Bakuradze's drama "Lermontov" with comedian Ilya Ozolin as the poet, Ari Astaire's thriller "Eddington" with Oscar-winning Joaquin Phoenix and Athena Rachel Tsangari's art horror "Harvest" with "Harry Potter" star Harry Melling are being released in Russia. They are accompanied by two films focusing on pets: Ben Leonberg's horror film "Through the Eyes of a Dog" and Andrey Zaitsev's melodrama "Two in One Life, Not Counting the Dog" starring Svetlana Kryuchkova and Alexander Adabashyan.

Izvestia — about what to watch in the cinema next weekend.

"Lermontov", 16+

Directed by Bakur Bakuradze. Starring: Ilya Ozolin, Vera Engalycheva, Evgeny Romantsov, Dmitry Solomykin, Andrey Maksimov

Bakur Bakuradze had not previously turned to the historical genre as a director, but the figure of Mikhail Lermontov prompted him to experiment: to make a film about the last day of the poet's life.

Filming took place in Kislovodsk, in the mountainous village of Khasaut (Karachay-Cherkessia), where about fifty people live, and, of course, in Pyatigorsk, at the foot of Mount Mashuk— where the real drama of 1841 unfolded.

Morning of July 15th. There are only a few hours left before Lermontov's duel with Nikolai Martynov. Until recently, they were friends, and no one believes that everything will end in death.

The director invited stand-up comedian Ilya Ozolin (participant of the Open Mic show) to play the main role. For him, this is his film debut — and perhaps the most unexpected casting of the fall.

"Two in one life, not counting the dog", 12+

Directed by Andrey Zaitsev. Starring: Svetlana Kryuchkova, Alexander Adabashyan, Anna Ukolova, Polina Gukhman, Alexander Zamuraev

A kind and sad story about St. Petersburg intellectuals — about wisdom, patience, the ability to forgive and accept. Those who are cold in their hearts and in their lives are drawn to the house of an elderly couple.

This is a movie without chases and explosions, but with humor, warmth and a huge heart. Svetlana Kryuchkova and Alexander Adabashyan play simply and accurately, and the Bullet dog adds humanity to the film. The film won the audience Award at the last Moscow International Film Festival.

Eddington, 18+

Directed by Ari Astaire. Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal, Michael Ward, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O'Connell

Ari Astaire's new film (Solstice, Reincarnation) is not so much a western as a black comedy about the madness of modern society.

The action takes place in the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus ruled the world. The sheriff of the fictional provincial town of Eddington, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), decides to run for mayor. The current mayor, Ted Garcia, annoys him with everything from the mask regime to the artificial intelligence center project funded by the tech giant. The two men's struggle for power quickly spirals out of control, turning into a real war. Astaire remains true to himself: behind the grotesque exterior lies the abyss of human fears and ambitions.

"Through the eyes of a dog", 16+

Directed by Ben Leonberg. Starring: Indy, Shane Jensen, Ariel Friedman, Larry Fessenden, Stuart Rudin

A supernatural thriller, told from the perspective of a dog. A dog named Indy moves into a country house with his owner and is the first to notice the presence of evil, visible only to him.

When otherworldly forces begin to threaten the owner, Indy decides to join the battle. The director filmed his own pet and spent three years preparing it for filming. On the playground, the dog worked only in the pavilion, where he could concentrate.
And the result was unexpectedly emotional: a movie where the animal's gaze becomes the only honest one.

"Harvest", 18+

Directed by Athena Rachel Tsangari. Starring: Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, Frank Dillane

An art horror based on the novel by Jim Crace takes the viewer to the Scottish province. The world of a small agrarian community collapses with the arrival of an outsider who has declared himself the rightful owner of their lands.

The cartographer he hired draws up a map of the area, and his casual assistant is a local resident, Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones), an introverted dreamer who survived the death of his wife. The owner turns out to be his childhood friend Kent (Harry Melling), and his plans are not just to destroy the community, but to wipe it off the face of the earth.

Arson of a barn, loss of crops, fear and hopelessness — a tragedy grows out of a peaceful life. The film participated in the main competition of the Venice Film Festival, and Jones, the Cannes winner for "Nitram" and the star of the recently released "Dracula," proves once again that he has no equal in the roles of mentally fragile heroes.