Dance, herring direction by Alexandra Lupashko
Zhanna, played by Sasha Bortich, returns from Moscow to her small hometown to bury her father, who left the family years ago. The burial ritual requires a medical examination, which can only be arranged at the regional center 200 kilometers away. A deal is struck with a wary neighbor named Kostya to help with transportation. Zhanna’s childhood friend takes on the task of bringing her father’s body in the backseat of an aging car, and the journey becomes a strange emotional odyssey through the town. Along the way, the dead man appears to come back to life in a sense, pressing Zhanna to spend his upcoming birthday in his stead and to confront the unfinished past.
In Russian cinema, road movies about fathers and sons have often been driven by male perspectives. A notable shift is visible in the latest installments of a broader series that includes Return, Koktebel, and How Vitka Chesnok Took Lyokha Shtyr to the Nursing Home. The new film, Dance, herring, directed by Alexandra Lupashko, adds a sharper, more playful feminine angle to the genre, while still leaning into the road-trip dynamic that has defined these stories. The film is connected to Lupashko’s earlier work on Christmas Trees as well as to recent acting roles by its cast, and it nods to stylistic and tonal influences from contemporary Russian cinema. The narrative hints at a transition to the 1990s through a child’s point of view, and it does so with a wink to the era’s sensibilities.
Sometimes the film leans a little too hard on nostalgia, leaning on a soundtrack that includes songs from popular acts of the era. Yet at moments the score anchors the emotion and prevents the film from feeling forced. When the right song comes on at the right moment, the film lands with surprising resonance, and it even marks a personal triumph for a well-chosen tune that becomes the funeral’s perfect anthem.
Scraper direction by Charlotte Regan
Georgie, a twelve-year-old girl played with remarkable nuance by a debuting actress, navigates life alone after the death of her mother. She skillfully fools social workers by pretending to be under the care of an uncle, a ruse that sustains her daily needs while she finds ways to survive—selling bicycles and earning rent through small schemes. Her world shifts when a man named Jason appears at the door with a gift and a suitcase, revealing himself to be Georgie’s father who abandoned the family years earlier and who has kept his distance until now.
The film instantly positions itself as a different kind of family drama from what has come before. The father, who becomes a living figure rather than a distant rumor, disrupts the quiet rhythm of Georgie’s life. The visual approach favors static, contemplative framings that seem to freeze time and space, a deliberate choice to mirror the stillness and grief that follows loss. This is a film about how a child learns to navigate a fractured family dynamic when the truth finally steps into the room.
Regan’s debut as a feature director pairs keen humor with genuine tenderness. The performance from Lola Campbell as the young Georgie is a standout, and Harris Dickinson anchors the film with a grounded, steady presence as the returning father. The storytelling never loses its light touch, even as it touches on difficult emotions, making the film feel intimate and human. The balance between humor and heartbreak is executed with care, and the result is a movie that resonates with both younger and older viewers by finding truth in small, everyday moments.