PETROV’S FLU 18

★★★★☆ OUT 11 FEBRUARY CINEMAS

DIRECTOR Kirill Serebrennikov STARRING Semyon Serzin, Chulpan Khamatova, Vladislav Semiletkov SCREENPLAY Kirill Serebrennikov DISTRIBUTOR Sovereign RUNNING TIME 146 mins

Off screen, the story behind is one of imposed restraints. On it, altogether more liberated visions erupt. Adapting a novel, ) wrote the script while under house arrest in Russia on – allegedly – politically motivated charges; when the film reached Cannes, he was unable to leave Russia. No such boundaries hinder his film: splicing grotesque realism, dirty surrealism, dystopian horror, absurdist comedy and more, maps out a carnivalesque trip through a psychogeographical hellscape with bracingly messy vigour.