Trapped in a gondola over the Russian wilderness (Film Review)

Media Screening – (Breakaway / Original Title – отрыв)
Russian Resurrection International Film Festival
Teen Thriller (Russia)
Duration: 90 minutes

A teen thriller to enjoy your late Halloween celebrations. What brings genius to the simple plot of friendship and love being celebrated on New Year’s Eve is the length of time the script holds the audience’s attention throughout the entire film with much of it taking place in a gondola after it breaks down halfway to its final destination.

Creative dream sequences, aerial cinematography and scenescapes of the Russian mountain ranges are tactfully used to build suspense and propel the story between the friends who begin turning on one another.

The characters aren’t developed enough for us to genuinely connect with them, little is given to establish relationship pairings, relationship statuses, friendship dynamics so when the catalyst for the film to gear into full throttle arrives it washes over you.

The rapid descent into madness from hunger and hypothermic effects on rationality by some of the characters is a little hard to swallow at times, however in saying that, Breakaway satisfies the codes and conventions of the teen film genre and is a great escape for date night.

Showing at the following Event cinemas:

Russian Resurrection Films screening as part of the festival in: