Closeness

Balagov, a filmmaker whose major breakthrough in European cinema is destined to occur this decade and a perpetuator of the Great Russian school, signed his first credentials in 2017 with a small, tight-knit thriller of moral dilemmas, awarded at various festivals around the globe.

Synopsis

1998, Nalchik, Caucasus foothills, Russia. A 24-year-old woman works in her father's garage. One afternoon, family and friends are gathered to celebrate her younger brother's engagement. The same evening the young couple goes missing, and a note for ransom arrives at the family’s door. In this close-knit community of Jews, police involvement is out of the question. How will the family raise the money to save the victims?