Why Don’t You Just Die!, 2018.
Directed by Kirill Sokolov.
Starring Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaliy Khaev, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Michael Gor, and Elena Shevchenko.
SYNOPSIS:
Andrei, a detective and the world’s most horrible father, brings together a terrible group of people in his apartment: his resentful actress daughter, an angry thug, and a cheated cop. Each one of them has a reason to want revenge.
When Pat Benatar enunciates the lyrics “love is a battlefield,” I doubt she’s imagining the undomesticated melee that is Kirill Sokolov’s Why Don’t You Just Die!. A battered chamber piece about motivated violence in the name of lust, mistrust, and satchels of stolen cash. Sokolov redecorates a gaudy Russian apartment with different shades of blood-red washover: rich and matte when dried, cherry-bright and vibrant when wet. It’s contained, boiling claustrophobic tension, yet the world our “dysfunctional” family operates within could fit an echoey mansion. Most of all? It’s righteously kinetic and balls-to-the-wall energetic in terms of gorified action, as if manipulative puppetry wasn’t twisted enough as lies pile like stacks of folded laundry.
‘Tis a story of romance and betrayal. Brutality and headbutting. Matvei (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) raps on Andrei’s (Vitaliy Khaev) door with ambitions of vengeance. Matvei’s girlfriend Olya (Evgeniya Kregzhde) convinced her white knight that father Andrei inappropriately abused her as a child. Upon Matvei’s entrance into the cozy domicile, Andrei notices his guest’s skittishness – then the workman’s hammer falls from his pant-waist. Gloves are tossed and the two men brawl on-sight, which is only the beginning of an entire family’s whirlwind reunion.
For such a simplistic overall narrative, Sokolov’s subplot complexities are healthily layered. Beyond Olya’s accusations, we have Andrei’s well-respected lawman career, mother Tasha’s (Elena Shevchenko) muttered disdain for her crumbling household, and backstabbings galore. Matvei accepts his mission with the courage of a lion, but he’s a foolish pawn. As the power dynamic shifts from Matvei to Andrei and every other direction, intrigue thickens like a tantalizing rue. Never overcomplicating, always flying spontaneously off-kilter just when expectancies appear to reach teased conclusions.
Cinematographer Dmitriy Ulyukaev channels narrative turbulence by keying camerawork into a constant state of fluidity. The lens’ perspective hugs weapons as they’re used (a thrown television) or spins in a circular design while characters chat amongst themselves (think That ‘70s Show basement). Ulyukaev aids Sokolov in making a modest one-bedroom rental feel more spacious than a penthouse suite, while also honoring the film’s spiraling evolution. Instead of clean cuts from Matvei’s bathtub holding cell to Adrei’s bustling clean-up in the living room, a window is utilized to allow visual passage via sightlines. Tight proximities are made apparent, and yet beneficial atmospheric expansion allows for breathing room as combatants aren’t tripping over one another.
Why Don’t You Just Die! earns its title by snapping bones, drilling through flesh, and rupturing heads against jagged bookcase shelves. Matvei bursts through Andrei’s bedroom wall, double-barrel shotguns are unloaded, and blood gushes from each new wound. Injuries squirt sanguine juice over carpets or tile walls or sofa upholstery like audaciously pressurized spigots. Fight sequences smash-up decor and belongings with zero mercy shown to Andrei or Tasha, in a comic-friendly approach that sustains unbelievability as characters continue to gasp another breath. Sokolov’s approach is bloody-entertaining, bloody-hilarious, and bloody-freaking-bloody alongside the best of ‘em, precise to a laser’s point.
Performances are paramount since Why Don’t You Just Die! is as much a battle of wits as it is this split-knuckle donnybrook marathon. Matvei’s journey is the most prolific, since Aleksandr Kuznetsov deals and takes walloping blows with puppy-dog perseverance. Even as he slouches next to Olya and Andrei (presumably minutes from death) – daughter and papa discussing future “deals” – his last-legs facial expressions work to coax a smile from audiences. Vitaliy Khaev is a bull in his own brutish character’s china shop, Elena Shevchenko plays disjointed with such flighty angst, and Evgeniya Kregzhde unveils her limitless siren’s song dominance over men. What might, at first, reflect a mature-rated cartoon template is actually this sneaky character study about despicable people colliding in a rapturous way, because, well, karma’s quite the queen biotch.
Kirill Sokolov has redefined how catastrophically disastrous one’s first impression upon meeting a significant other’s parents might tank. Why Don’t You Just Die! showcases exquisite navigation of budgetary constraints, breakneck commital to consequential abandon (although I’m not sure I love a certain death), and it beats the ever-smug hell out of flabbier competition. As unforgiving as it is sardonically bleak, which might be a leap too far for anyone who promotes cheerier mantras. Those who don’t mind a bruised, forked-tongue, no-rules cage match doused in rage? I’ve got one rumbler of a recommendation.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt spends his after-work hours posting nonsense on the internet instead of sleeping like a normal human. He seems like a pretty cool guy, but don’t feed him after midnight just to be safe (beers are allowed/encouraged). Follow him on Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd (@DoNatoBomb).
