Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Years ago, a Ukrainian woman went to Bosnia, where she found a gangster husband, returned home to her small town, and had twin boys. Eventually he left town and she remarried, though there seemed to be a legacy of respect for the father that followed the boys.

Years later, the boys have taken very different paths. Kolya is a bus driver, drug dealer, and petty thief. Vasily is an upright, heavy-on-duty policeman who tries to look out for Kolya. Both are married with one child, and both are a disappointment to their family. Kolya receives a call from the Ukrainian consulate in Luxembourg, informing himthat their father had an accident and is dying, and the brothers (and their mother) debate whether to rush to his side. Vasily and mother worry that their father may just leave troubles and debts, while Kolya dreams of riches.

Already in trouble with the bus company for an incident caused by his short temper, Kolya gets into further trouble by knocking down a woman with his bus, impeding his plan to go to Luxembourg. The brothers eventually work something out.

From the CBC news story, this film was shot before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the director had to return to Ukraine to complete post-production. The theme of growing up with an absent father is coincidentally timely, given the diaspora of Ukrainian refugee families of women-and-children. This is the only film from Ukraine at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I suspect could be next year's Ukrainian entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Reall gem! I believe this is a type of a movie you need to watch a few times to fully understand it. At the beginning of the story it seems to be a simple comedy that makes you laugh all the time but as the story evolves it gets more and more complex. And when the final credits start, you might start questioning yourself if you really understood the main idea of the film, storyline and main characters per se.

As movie is mostly based in Ukraine it will also give you a hint to understanding Ukrainians and their everyday life, some traditions, culture, but at the same time won't come across as something totally 'exotic' or something you can't relate to.

Best dialogs. Real casting. Strong and motivated 'actors'. The whole movie can easily be split in parts to watch as reels. (why not done so?) Is highly recommended. Looking forward for the next Lukich movie!

...... Best dialogs. Real casting. Strong and motivated 'actors'. The whole movie can easily be split in parts to watch as reels. (why not done so?) Is highly recommended. Looking forward for the next Lukich movie!

...... Best dialogs. Real casting. Strong and motivated 'actors'. The whole movie can easily be split in parts to watch as reels. (why not done so?) Is highly recommended. Looking forward for the next Lukich movie!

Not bad at all. I watched this movie with pleasure and noticed the creators' great attention to detail. I'm all the more sorry that the film was disappointing in some aspects.

Minus one point for non-inclusive portrayal of people with mental disorders. There's a scene where police arrest a man who has just been discharged from a mental hospital and is beating his wife. This doesn't correspond to modern ideas about respect for differently abled people.

Minus one point for making fun of women on maternity leave. Women and men who raise small children also deserve respect, not ridicule, even indirectly.

And minus one point for the predictability of the plot. The ending was too predictable.

So this is not my very first experience of Antonio Lukich movies. His latest "My thoughts are quiet" surprised me in the way I couldn't have imagined. This guy knows how to portray a well written story, expend it with a situational humor and spice it up with a delicious soundtrack. This film is not an exclusion. You have pair of amazing twin characters taken from a typical Ukrainian countryside. You also get a dateless problem of relations between parents and kids, but with some fresh breath in it. And of course you cannot help, but avoid the tragedy of what's going to happen with these two. You're watching the comedy, but you feel this little sticky thing that haunts you throughout the movie. This thing is the understanding of what weight those two are carrying. I'm glad to everyone who took part in creating this film. Keep it up 👍🏿