As far as the themes for fiction movies go, reflections on the historical past and its key figures remained an ever-popular (and award-bringing) plot in this years’ festival (festival-opening “The Tsar” and triumphant “Pete on the Way to Heaven” being two good examples).

Still, many filmmakers chose to stay current and made some important statements on relationships and family values.

The story starts in a typical thriller-like setting

The always relevant topic was assessed from different angles, but one of the most refreshing (while still sympathetic to old-school family values) was “The Circumstances” by Pavel Ruminov. A strikingly uninteresting title is best forgotten, especially knowing that the movie’s working one sounded way more interesting: "My Wife is a Zombie."

And here the zombie theme makes complete sense, as previously Ruminov became famous with his moderately unsuccessful attempt to create the first-ever Russian horror film, “The Dead Daughters”.

Suspense got a secondary role in Ruminov’s new project, boosting the entertainment value of a movie that is essentially centered around relationships. Ruminov chose to conceal his message on the opening stages, starting his story in a typical thriller-like setting, with a detective arriving to question participants in a strange-looking double date.

The zombie-theme kicks in next, through a carefully (and laughingly) crafted talk-show parody, which one of the heroes watches on the TV.

As the detective leaves the dinner continues

This part of the screenplay (among others) was written by the very promising stand-up artist Nikolay Kulikov, who also plays the part of the show host, while Ruminov himself appears as the weirdo zombie expert.

Kulikov has already landed a major Russian film award earlier this year at the Kinotavr movie festival for his sarcastic fake news report (available on YouTube in Russian).

Plans to eliminate the zombie wife become the next important development in the story, but they are eventually rendered useless as the protagonist proves to be unable to kill his wife under any circumstances (though the initial intrigue of the movie involves what the audience deems to be his jealousy-driven brutal murder of his wife).

A lively climax, involving one of the heroes beating another with a whole variety of cooked vegetables, comes just in time to relieve the audience of all confusion.

The luscious beating scene in turn paves way for a rather straightforward catharsis-finale. One might consider the emotional reconciliation scene banal, but what’s more important is that it underlines a very up-to-date issue - namely, people working hard to support their loved ones and forgetting about those loved ones in the process.

So in terms of genres, the closest one here would be the classic vaudeville, which by no means looks outdated, thanks to the entertaining dialogue provided by Ruminov and Kulikov.

To be continued…

Read also: Chapter I and Prologue of the Moscow Film Festival chronicles

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.