Servants

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1:43

Servants

2022

1h 20m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In Czechoslovakia, 1980, the totalitarian Communist regime demands allegiance from all its subjects, including the clergy. Servants follows Michal and Juraj, two conflicted novitiates whose seminary is under increasing pressure by the Party to mold its students into satisfactory citizens. With the school on the brink of dissolution, and its head priest a target for blackmail, Michal and Juraj will have to choose between collaborating with the government as informants, or becoming targets of the secret police. Shot in striking, atmospheric black-and-white, Servants is both a brooding morality tale and a taut political thriller "that jitters and shivers with anti-authoritarian sentiment beneath its serene monochrome aesthetic" (Variety).

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

03/12/2022

It's actually quite good, if a bit cumbersome.

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Dmitry Samarov

Chicago Reader

03/08/2022

The filmmakers have clearly seen many films and believe they can telegraph gravitas by employing fancy camerawork and such. But without an emotional or narrative underpinning, all the style in the world is no deeper than a perfume ad.

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Natalia Winkelman

New York Times

02/24/2022

[A] captivating ecclesiastical drama...

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Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

07/18/2022

Beyond being beautiful it shows us the ugliness that lies within the aesthetically pleasing images. [Full review in Spanish]

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Steve Morrissey

Radio Times

06/08/2022

4/5

Servants is sensational to look at...A film that has something to say and does so entertainingly, it's above all determined not to wag the finger.

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Andrew Wyatt

The Lens

03/24/2022

B

Ostrochovský takes a different approach compared to most films about life under authoritarian governments, eschewing humanizing depth for crisp formal precision and a powerful mood of numbing dread.

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Jim P

12/22/2023

Have I seen a different movie to the critics? Sure, it was well-shot. But telling a story? All over the place…

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R Victor B

02/28/2022

Very timely...a lesson for anyone out there who might think that Putin's war is not worth our fighting against.

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Ivan Ostrochovský

Director

Samuel Skyva

Juraj

Samuel Polakovič

Michal

Vlad Ivanov

Dr. Ivan

Vladimír Strnisko

Dean

Milan Mikulčík

Spiritual

Servants: Trailer 1

1:43

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Synopsis

In Czechoslovakia, 1980, the totalitarian Communist regime demands allegiance from all its subjects, including the clergy. Servants follows Michal and Juraj, two conflicted novitiates whose seminary is under increasing pressure by the Party to mold its students into satisfactory citizens. With the school on the brink of dissolution, and its head priest a target for blackmail, Michal and Juraj will have to choose between collaborating with the government as informants, or becoming targets of the secret police. Shot in striking, atmospheric black-and-white, Servants is both a brooding morality tale and a taut political thriller "that jitters and shivers with anti-authoritarian sentiment beneath its serene monochrome aesthetic" (Variety).

Director: Ivan Ostrochovský
Producer: Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovsky
Screenwriter: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Lescák, Ivan Ostrochovský
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Point Films, Punkchart films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Slovak
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 25, 2022, Limited
Runtime: 1h 20m

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