Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
After an alien ship crash lands in a Russian city, many who see the inside and the occupants start to question their own existence while others demand the aliens leave Earth.
Attraction (2017) is a visually ambitious Russian sci-fi blockbuster that impresses most with its large-scale cinematography and production design — the alien ship crash sequence and the depiction of the vessel's interior are genuinely striking achievements for Russian cinema. The plot blends familiar alien-contact themes with a romantic drama and social commentary on xenophobia and human nature, which works reasonably well but doesn't fully escape genre conventions. The acting is competent and serviceable, with Irina Starshenbaum carrying emotional weight in the lead, though characterization remains surface-level for much of the cast. The novelty lies more in its distinctly Russian cultural lens on alien contact — a refreshing perspective outside Hollywood norms — than in any radical reinvention of the genre. The ending, however, disappoints, resolving tensions too neatly and falling back on melodramatic contrivances that undercut the film's more thoughtful earlier ambitions.