Unclenching the Fists

2021

1h 37m

Drama

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88%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

Ada is stuck. Living in a dead-end industrial town in North Ossetia, she is caught in the tight grip of the men in her life. But when her older brother returns home and her domineering father suddenly falls ill, Ada finally sees a possible path to freedom.

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Critics Consensus

A daring feature debut for director/co-writer Kira Kovalenko, Unclenching the Fists explores how family ties can stifle as much as they support.

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

This is a different kind of prison escape picture, focusing on the stifling confines of a life devoid of possibility.

May 26, 2023

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Beatrice Loayza

New York Times

With its steely color palette and brooding, tight-lipped performances, the film often trades in art-house cinema clichés — and its relentless atmosphere of doom and gloom reduces the characters to mere victims of implacable forces.

May 25, 2023

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Phil Hoad

Guardian

There’s an uncanny claustrophobic charge to Kira Kovalenko’s family drama, though it finally exhales an equally powerful sigh of self-redemption.

Rated: 4/5

May 22, 2023

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Stephanie Bunbury

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Kovalenko and her co-writer Anton Yarush weave this story’s warp and weft of contradictory truths with tremendous skill and intelligence. Nothing about this situation is as simple as we want it to be.

Sep 16, 2023

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Jim Ross

TAKE ONE Magazine

Although their North Ossetian town is hardly painted as a warm place […], the character interactions are skilfully pitched to create an oppressive atmosphere derived from the people in Ada’s life rather than where she leads it.

Aug 5, 2023

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Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

This gritty and incisive portrait of systemic oppression and fractured family dynamics is rough around the edges yet quietly powerful without turning heavy-handed.

Jun 2, 2023

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Kira Kovalenko

Director

Milana Aguzarova

Ada

Alik Karaev

Father

Soslan Khugaev

Akim

Khetag Bibilov

Dakko

Arsen Khetagurov

Tamik

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Unclenching the Fists: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Ada is stuck. Living in a dead-end industrial town in North Ossetia, she is caught in the tight grip of the men in her life. But when her older brother returns home and her domineering father suddenly falls ill, Ada finally sees a possible path to freedom.

Director: Kira Kovalenko
Producer: Natalia Gorina
Screenwriter: Kira Kovalenko, Anton Yarush, Lyubov Mulmenko
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: Non-Stop Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Streaming): May 26, 2023
Runtime: 1h 37m

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