Secret Attraction (Russian: Тайное влечение, romanizedTaynoe vlechenie; working title Veta) is a Russian drama film directed and written by Stasya Venkova. Its debut took place as part of the competition program of the 45th Moscow International Film Festival Russian Premieres on April 23, 2023.[1][2]

Secret Attraction
Directed byStasya Venkova (ru)
Written byStasya Venkova
Anna Ovcharova
Produced by
Fyodor Popov
  • Vladimir Malyshev
  • Anatoly Terentyev
Starring
Maria Yanycheva
  • Mindaugas Papinigis
  • Roza Khayrullina
CinematographyMaria Androsova
Edited byMaria Sidelnikova
Music byYuri Poteyenko
Production
company
VGIK Debut
Distributed byCinema Art Pro
Release date
  • 2023 (2023)
Running time
96 min.
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Box office$19 197

The film is dedicated in memory of Sergey Solovyov.[3]

Plot

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Aspiring actress in her early 20s, Veta (Maria Yanycheva), is full of ambitious aspirations for career success. Unexpectedly, she meets a young director Roman, who has arrived on an exchange from Poland. Her life and hopes for the future in the profession are rapidly changing, and the girl herself does not understand at all whether these changes are for the better or not.

Cast

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  • Maria Yanycheva as Veta
  • Mindaugas Papinigis (lt) as Roman
  • Roza Khayrullina as Alisa Alekseevna
  • Daria Balabanova as Liza
  • Anton Rogachev as Denis
  • Stasya Venkova as Muse
  • Nike Borzov as Veta's father
  • Pavel Osadchiy as Pasha
  • Darya Antonyuk as Sonya
  • Anna Shishkina as Nastya

Critical response

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  • Naya Guseva (Film.ru): Perhaps for Venkova and those involved in the creation of the film, there is much more to the plot than is visible to the outside viewer. There are rumors that for VGIK graduates, it is much more important to work out their inner world on screen than to explain it to the inhabitants on the other side. The viewer awkwardly peeks at what is happening through velvet curtains, trying to understand what brought him here.[4]
  • Eva Anisimova (RT): The production is one of the most striking, but at the same time controversial aspects of the film. There are many beautiful, truly spectacular shots in the film. They all successfully work to create an atmosphere (mysterious, passionate and creative) but often do not carry any meaning. Sometimes it seems that this or that frame, or even scene, is present in the film only because it turned out beautiful or at least funny.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "На ММКФ покажут драму о начинающих актёрах и документальный фильм о монахах Шаолиня". Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  2. ^ "«Тайное влечение» на сайте Московского международного кинофестиваля". Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  3. ^ "Стася Венкова: «Сергей Соловьёв, бесспорно, повлиял на меня и на то, что я сделала этот фильм»". Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  4. ^ "Рецензия на «Тайное влечение»: рефлексию, которой не нужен зритель". Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  5. ^ "Творчество в условиях юношеского максимализма: на ММКФ показали российскую драму «Тайное влечение»". 24 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
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