Elena
2011 · Movie · 110 min · ★ 7.2 · 91% critics
After a wealthy man’s heart attack, his wife faces a painful choice when he plans to leave most of his estate to his estranged daughter. As pressure mounts from her struggling family, everyday routines give way to a tense moral crossroads that exposes sharp class divides and the cost of loyalty.
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Details
- Original title
- Елена
- Years
- 2011
- Release date
- 2011-06-06
- Language
- Russian
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Critic score
- 91/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.2/10 (281 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a quiet, tense drama about money, family obligation, and hard choices, in the same vein as Leviathan or Loveless; Not for you if you need fast pacing or clear-cut heroes.
Pros: slow-burn tension; thought-provoking moral dilemma; strong social contrast | Cons: very slow pacing; bleak tone throughout; minimal action
Themes
- pill
- swimming pool
- viagra
- candle
- female lifeguard
- second marriage
- watching tv
- lifeguard
- stepparent stepchild relationship
- elderly couple
- convalescence
- apartment complex
Awards & recognition
- European Film Award — Best Actress · 2011 · nominated
Cast & crew
Nadezhda Markina
as Elena
Aleksey Rozin
as Sergey
Andrey Smirnov
as Vladimir
Elena Lyadova
as Katerina
Yaroslav Zhalnin
Aleksey Maslodudov
as Vitek
Yura Borisov
as Friend Sanka
Ivan Mulin
Oksana Semenova
as Operations Officer
Igor Ogurtsov
as Aleksandr
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev