Direction: Kirill Serebrennikov
Country: Russia
Petrov’s Flu is a trippy comedy-drama that depicts a surreal day in the life of a Russian family. The script, based on Alexey Salnikov's 2018 novel The Petrovs In and Around the Flu, was written by director Kirill Serebrennikov (The Student, 2016; Leto, 2018) while he was under house arrest in today’s decadent and hopeless Russia.
This satire aims at a society where unworkable relationships with normalcy are pretty much in evidence - we have demonic possessions, violent murderous impulses, alien rescues, alcohol intoxication, governmental incompetence, racism, moral degradation, and more - but the story is abstruse to the point of near-absurdity, being an accumulation of endless drama and fantasy that either doesn’t know where to go or how to properly take us to places.
The inarticulation between sections makes it structurally defiant a priori, and the vagueness in the dialogue only increases it. A zestful camera work never makes it less derivative, just like some of its most dynamic moments never lead to practical results. “Are you real or imaginary?” A kid asks the Snow Maiden at a New Year’s party… He struggles with confusion, and so are we.
Too many elements get lost in the sauce because it’s easier to denounce than construct something clear. Despite the prevailing dark tones, the awarded cinematography of Vladislav Opelyants revealed distinctness.
