This movie started out as compelling and even a bit tragicomic, but the longer I watched it, the fewer people I could imagine recommending it to...until we reached the end, at which point I could no longer honestly advise anyone I know to see it. But if you like your grim social commentary served up with a dash or the surreal, confusion about whether characters or plot points are metaphorical, and an apprehensive or nonexistent editing down of scene length, well, this may be appealing to you (of course, as long as you speak Russian or don't mind subtitles). I won't give any spoilers, but I will say that the trailer was misleading when we saw it a week earlier, and it wasn't until we had already bought tickets and sat in the theater that we learned the film's rating is due largely to an extended scene of sexual violence, which was actually not extremely graphic visually, but powerfully upsetting in its suggestiveness/ use of sound/ what you don't see. If all of that information has not deterred you, then you may very well enjoy this epically long descent of a film - just don't get too attached to the main character or the idea of a happy ending (or even a slightly disappointing one). The only reason I have even given it two stars is because it had some good acting (and presumably, some nonactors), cinematography, and dialogue - I've seen worse films that couldn't even say that. Well, there you go - an honest review of A Gentle Creature.

So grim. Hard to watch.