Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.
Beanpole is a devastating, visually arresting debut from Kantemir Balagov that stands apart through its deeply intimate portrayal of trauma, female friendship, and survival in postwar Leningrad. The performances—particularly Victoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina—are extraordinary, conveying enormous psychological weight with restraint. Balagov and cinematographer Kseniya Sereda deploy rich, painterly colors (greens and reds dominating) in stark contrast to the bleakness of the subject matter, creating an immediately distinctive visual language. The film's conception is singular and unmistakably authored. The plot, however, is deliberately slow and episodic, and its quietude can feel more like withholding than profundity in places. The ending is emotionally resonant but somewhat ambiguous to the point of deflation, leaving certain threads unresolved in ways that feel less purposeful than the rest of the film.