Blockbuster

If you’ve ever wondered what a Russian Thelma and Louise mixed with Run Lola Run and The Sopranos would be like, check out Blockbuster. Set in Moscow and surrounds, this female-led heist film blends comedy, crime, feminism and suspense in a fast-paced, character-driven escapade. Directed by Roman Volobuev, Blockbuster follows two beautiful and complex women who become unlikely friends in unlikely circumstances.

On a solo night out after a horrible day dealing with her groping co-worker and her cheating boyfriend, depressed and drunken Lisa (Svetlana Ustinova) is understandably trying to eat away her problems with a kebab. She becomes involved in the aftermath of a loan shop hold up next door when the burglar, wannabe model Natasha (Anna Chipovskaya), uses Lisa’s car as her getaway vehicle. Rather than falling into the standard kidnapper/victim roles, the two women bond over their shared struggles.

With Natasha’s modelling photos plastered across the news, the two allies try and escape the men who surround them, most of whom are mobsters, manipulators and misogynists. Initially, Lisa lets the loser men in her life walk all over her. But once the bubbly and strong-willed Natasha enters her world, her confidence and strength rubs off on Lisa and she begins fighting back, quite literally in some scenes when she remembers her old boxing days. The one decent man in the film is a cop, but even he has an unprofessional level of interest in Lisa.

Although the film tackles some feminist themes, it doesn’t go quite far enough. A couple of attractive women standing up to some chauvinistic men is all well and good, but the overall light-heartedness of the movie means it doesn’t carry much weight. In a post-Weinstein-scandalised world, when Lisa’s older male co-presenter grabs her arse and she’s told to just put up with it, it shows how rampant and overlooked that disturbing behaviour is.

Blockbuster is an absorbing, well-executed film. With two women as the leads, it’s a refreshing take on the conventional crime film.

Blockbuster 
Russian Resurrection Film Festival 2017
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