Atlantis

Released Jan 22, 2021

1h 46m

Drama

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97%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A prize-winner at the Venice Film Festival and Ukraine's official selection for the 2021 Academy Awards, Atlantis is a gorgeous and visionary sci-fi drama. Eastern Ukraine, 2025. A desert unsuitable for human habitation. Water is a dear commodity brought by trucks. A Wall is being build-up on the border. Sergiy, a former soldier, is having trouble adapting to his new reality. He meets Katya while on the Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming the past. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which they are also allowed to fall in love again.

Critics Consensus

With powerful imagery that's vividly affecting, Atlantis explores the chilling horrors of war with Herzogian existentialism while never losing sight of human perseverance.

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Kathleen Sachs

Chicago Reader

Naturally the film has emerged as one to watch during the present-day turbulence; such timeliness is eclipsed only by its visual splendor, further reflecting the ability of art to transmit by way of form in addition to content.

Apr 8, 2022

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Leslie Felperin

Guardian

Instead of being numbingly dreary and depressing, given the economically depressed, horrifically polluted and landmine-strewn region, Atlantis is strangely upbeat, oddly hopeful even.

Rated: 3/5

May 3, 2021

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Anna Smith

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Tonally, there are shades of Werner Herzog. But Vasyanovych's tone is distinct; not to mention timely. The crisis he depicts can be as dull as it is dramatic, making Atlantis an eerily topical watch.

Feb 9, 2021

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Alessandra Rangel

InSession Film

Atlantis works as a cautionary tale. Its haunting camera work offers too many scenes that invite reflection on the consequences of war and the way that its desolation cannot be avoided.

Rated: A

Mar 21, 2023

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Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

It was nice to see an unrepentantly arty, tableau-based fest film that reminded me why the sub-genre was important in the first place.

Dec 2, 2022

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Carmen Paddock

One Room With A View

Oblique, unaggressively bold, and deeply hopeful. Vasyanovych's unique directorial and cinematographic vision does not undersell destruction on personal, national, or environmental levels, but its thesis insists on humanity's self-redemption.

Rated: 4/5

May 10, 2021

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Patrick C

A hard movie to watch, it's slow but gripping, bleak and aesthetically powerful. Unsettling, bleak and prophetic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/09/23

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Ev

Intense, minimalist, and bleak. Features long and beautiful shots throughout. Ultimately there is a tiny glimmer of hope

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/05/23

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dick n

I did not mind the movie being "slow" it was a well made slow burner and my friends and i all enjoyed it!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Well made but a bit slow movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Nice cinematography but movie is slow and has many repetitive sequences. Not quite what I expected in an award-winning film...

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

brent m

Though singularly artistic in its vision and earnestly noble in its intent, this Ukrainian offering about life in the near future after the end of its protracted conflict with Russia struggles to find its traction, endlessly meandering and relying on far too many pregnant pauses and excessively long, lingering shots to make the film work. This visual attempt at creating a sense of bleak yet profound insight, unfortunately, fails to successfully conceal what is essentially a thin underlying narrative about a troubled former soldier seeking to adjust to life in peacetime in a land that has been morally and environmentally decimated by the conflict. It also doesn't help that there's virtually no back story about the protagonist and little information about the war, which may leave many viewers out in the cold as to what they're watching. What's more, it's puzzling that this release has been misleadingly labeled a sci-fi tale when, in fact, it's more properly characterized as a piece of dystopian political speculation, one that metaphorically seeks to echo the fate of the fabled lost continent. In all, the picture is certainly laudable for its valiant effort at making a weighty statement, but, regrettably, its pacing and overall execution weigh it down, trying viewer patience rather than offering meaningful enlightenment.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Valentyn Vasyanovych

Director

Andriy Rymaruk

Sergiy

Liudmyla Bileka

Katya

Vasyl Antoniak

Ivan

Lily Hyde

Ketrin

Philip Paul Peter Hudson

Foreign Representative

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Atlantis: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A prize-winner at the Venice Film Festival and Ukraine's official selection for the 2021 Academy Awards, Atlantis is a gorgeous and visionary sci-fi drama. Eastern Ukraine, 2025. A desert unsuitable for human habitation. Water is a dear commodity brought by trucks. A Wall is being build-up on the border. Sergiy, a former soldier, is having trouble adapting to his new reality. He meets Katya while on the Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming the past. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which they are also allowed to fall in love again.

Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Producer: Iya Myslytska, Valentyn Vasyanovych, Vladimir Yatsenko
Screenwriter: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Distributor: Grasshopper Film
Production Co: Doco Digital, Garmata Film Production, Ukrainian State Film Agency, Limelite
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Ukrainian
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 2021, Limited
Runtime: 1h 46m

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