Crystal Swan

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Crystal Swan

2018

1h 33m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

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13 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In 1990s Belarus, a young woman is derailed by a typo in a forged U.S. visa application, forcing her to a backwater village where she is determined to fake her way to the American dream.

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Diego Semerene

Slant Magazine

Throughout the film, it's as if mundane objects hold the remedies for the wretchedness of everyday life.

Rated: 3/4

May 20, 2020

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David Ehrlich

IndieWire

[Crystal Swan] is so effective at capturing the hopefulness of someone who's seized by the promise of a better life, and the desperation she feels when that promise starts to slip through her fingers.

Rated: B

Jul 13, 2018

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Guy Lodge

Variety

While some nuances may go over the heads of international audiences, its core social and economic frustrations are universal ones, driven by Velya's fundamentally sympathetic wanderlust.

Jul 6, 2018

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Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Film Festival Today

What happens ... is a perfect metaphor for what was happening in all such places and countries at that time, much of which has led to the world we live in today.

Rated: 3/4

May 23, 2020

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Phil Guie

Film-Forward.com

Crystal Swan feels like a poison-tipped letter from the filmmaker to her home country that is also an engrossing work of social criticism.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 26, 2019

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Brianna Zigler

Film Inquiry

Crystal Swan is about the murky foundation that the American Dream is built on, the impossibility of its promises, but the persistence it instills on those who are willing to fight for it, even in the most unfortunate circumstances.

Feb 9, 2019

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Audience Member

Standard for this genre of movie, can't knock it but can't give it above 2.5.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

this film needs to be seen because it brings a kind of hope and strength that is not common. A phrase from Niet is well suited to capture the essence of this film, "he who has a why to live can bear almost any how".

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Painful to watch. Film schoolish and one-liner.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

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Darya Zhuk

Director

Alina Nasibullina

Velya

Ivan Mulin

Stepan

Yura Borisov

Alik

Svetlana Anikey

Velya's mother

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Synopsis

In 1990s Belarus, a young woman is derailed by a typo in a forged U.S. visa application, forcing her to a backwater village where she is determined to fake her way to the American dream.

Director: Darya Zhuk
Producer: Valery Dmitrotchenko, Birgit Gernböck, Olga Goister, Debbie Vandermeulen
Screenwriter: Darya Zhuk, Helga Landauer
Production Co: TurnstyleTV, Demarsh-Film, Vice Studios, Unfound Content, Fusion Features, Crystal Goose
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Russian
Runtime: 1h 33m

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