My wife and I frequently find ourselves wondering why so many people we know decided to even have children in the first place, so little priority do they give them in their lives. They act like children are a roadblock to all of these exciting things they would otherwise be doing, instead of recognizing them as exciting things in their own right and probably more likely to enrich their lives in ways that matter than any of the other endeavors these people seem so fixated on. But they don't recognize this, and as a result the kids suffer for it.

"Loveless" is a bleak and scathing indictment of this kind of modern-day parenting, a world of selfish adults pursuing their petty little enjoyments while ignoring the children they voluntarily brought into the world. It's a tough film to watch, though not as tough as I thought it would be. The little boy at the center of the story isn't in the film very long before he goes missing, so we're spared scenes of the misery he feels at home with a super bitch of a mom and a checked out dad. The couple of scenes we get are enough. Then, the film turns into a "L'Aventurra" like odyssey as the parents and authorities go looking for him. What makes the film tough to watch more than anything are the horrid characters that populate it. These people may have once been happy, and maybe have the potential to be happy again, but if so we see no signs of it. These are wretched souls who take their misery out on each other, and walking out of the movie theater after this film was over was like walking into the fresh air after being trapped in a dank crawl space. The film is claustrophobic in its nihilism.

But, and this is a big "but," despite the above paragraph that makes this film sound like a chore to sit through, it's actually a wonderful movie and fascinating in a morbid kind of way. It's bleak to be sure, but people who are exhilarated by good film making can leave even a bleak movie on a high if it's done well, and this is one of those films.

Nominated for a 2017 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film from Russia.

Grade: A

Maryana Spivack and Aleksey Rozin are getting divorced,. They've moved on to new lovers and have to sell their old apartment and deal with the fact that his boss is a Fundamentalist Christian who will fire him if he finds out he has gotten a divorce, which will compromise child support for their 12-year-old son. They're two smart, attractive-looking, terrible human beings, and when their son turns up missing, the audience gets to watch them fight and wrangle and be terrible human beings for two hours and seven minutes. There are brief respites when we watch the guy in charge of the volunteers who help find kidnapped children -- because the authorities are terrible -- who is efficient at his job, and it's always a pleasure to watch someone do a job well. There's also one funny scene in which the two leads go visit her terrible mother to see if the son is there. She's old and paranoid and as hateful as her daughter, and so forth.

All the shots are deliberately slow so the awfulness of the situation can penetrate to anyone who isn't aware that this is a bad thing; and there are plenty of recapitulated shots to serve as chapter headings, so people will know that, well, doctor, here we are again. The performances are great, but perhaps a general nuclear strike would be the best ending to this movie.

Had heard nothing but good things about 'Loveless', and interest increased further when looking at the intriguing concept for the film, reading about what it was about, my love for Russian film (that has been apparent since first joining this site) and that it was nominated for an Oscar.

Finally seeing it, 'Loveless' proved to be every bit as great as heard and highly deserving of the Oscar nomination, it even would have been a more than worthy win. One of the standout films of 2017 and as far as Russian film goes it ranks towards the best for me. It is not for all tastes, it may be too bleak and lacking in nuance for some. Personally found it very layered and emotionally complex and felt that the bleakness while very prominent didn't come over heavy-handedly.

Would have liked some more development to the father character. Not enough development or meat to him. That is pretty much the only minor thing wrong to be found.

'Loveless' looks wonderful for starters. It's exquisitely shot and done in a way that makes one feel and smell the rich atmosphere, so evocatively it is done, and admire even more the picturesque and haunting landscapes and scenery. The music is starkingly effective.

The direction is one of the biggest stars here, immaculate is the best way to describe it. The writing is thought-provoking and succeeds in giving the characters and situations multiple layers reminiscent of the best of Russian literature known for their multi-dimensional characters and complex storytelling.

Another star is the storytelling. The disappearance has tension and a truly affecting tragic element, the consequences and family drama is done with heart-wrenching pathos and unflinching honesty and there is even a political element where 21st century values are challenged in a thought-provoking, frankly truthful and daringly scathing.

It all unfolds slowly, but never became dull to me thanks to the atmosphere, the emotion, the layered characters and the honest character interaction and the uniformly deeply felt performances.

All in all, really excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox