A couple going through a divorce must team up to find their son who has disappeared during one of their bitter arguments.A couple going through a divorce must team up to find their son who has disappeared during one of their bitter arguments.A couple going through a divorce must team up to find their son who has disappeared during one of their bitter arguments.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 28 wins & 49 nominations total
Andris Keiss
- Anton
- (as Andris Keysh)
Natalya Potapova
- Zhenya's Mother
- (as Nataliya Potapova)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Loveless is a depressingly profound experience.
It paints the world as it is, not shying away from showing the bitter emptiness, disconnect and sorrow (which we usually choose to ignore) that surrounds our society. The desperate search for happiness, the unbelievable selfishness, lack of compassion and love, as the title suggests, that seperates generations of people in our modern times of self-absorbed("anti")social media. The film manages to achive these incredible feats (without being preachy) in its fantastically written and acted multi-layered and complex characters, whom as the story goes on beautifully unravel from just simple despicable people to characters that you understand and by the end sort of empathize with and pity (though not all of them: the character of the father is kind of an exception, he's a bit underdeveloped). Though our main characters represent what is wrong with our society, Loveless manages to keep a hopeful balance showing the good side as well with its selfless side-characters, the search party.
Andrey Zvyagintsev's direction is immaculate, from the beautiful cinematography, with its lingering shots of the dreary Russian winterlands and cityscapes filling you with a sense of melancholy and loneliness, to the authentic writing and the tragic story itself.
Loveless is a tough watch that challenges the warped values of the 21st century, holding a mirror towards our modern society, still unable to escape the same endless cycle it's always been trapped in. A dour but realistic meditation on humanity's need for love.
/as schmaltzy or cheesy as this review sounds I assure you the film is the furthest thing from being those things./
It paints the world as it is, not shying away from showing the bitter emptiness, disconnect and sorrow (which we usually choose to ignore) that surrounds our society. The desperate search for happiness, the unbelievable selfishness, lack of compassion and love, as the title suggests, that seperates generations of people in our modern times of self-absorbed("anti")social media. The film manages to achive these incredible feats (without being preachy) in its fantastically written and acted multi-layered and complex characters, whom as the story goes on beautifully unravel from just simple despicable people to characters that you understand and by the end sort of empathize with and pity (though not all of them: the character of the father is kind of an exception, he's a bit underdeveloped). Though our main characters represent what is wrong with our society, Loveless manages to keep a hopeful balance showing the good side as well with its selfless side-characters, the search party.
Andrey Zvyagintsev's direction is immaculate, from the beautiful cinematography, with its lingering shots of the dreary Russian winterlands and cityscapes filling you with a sense of melancholy and loneliness, to the authentic writing and the tragic story itself.
Loveless is a tough watch that challenges the warped values of the 21st century, holding a mirror towards our modern society, still unable to escape the same endless cycle it's always been trapped in. A dour but realistic meditation on humanity's need for love.
/as schmaltzy or cheesy as this review sounds I assure you the film is the furthest thing from being those things./
"Loveless" (2017 release from Russia; 127 min.) brings the story of Boris and Zhenya and their 12 yr. old son Alexey. As the movie opens, school les out and Alexey takes the long way home, through a nearby park. At home, we quickly learn that Zhenya and Boris are going through a bitter and antagonizing divorce. They argue relentlessly, all the while thinking Alexey doesn't hear them But he hears them all too well... Boris and Zhenya are already in new relationships. Then one day, Alexey doesn't come home from school. Where could he be? Can Boris and Zehnya patch their personal differences in looking for their son? To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Russian writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev, who previously brought us such excellent films like 2012's Oscar-nominated Leviathan, and 2011's Elena. In "Loveless", he goes a very different direction, examining modern day life in Moscow with its endless apartment buildings, and the correlating urban loneliness. The very bitter feelings between Boris and Zhenya are at times shocking, but feel very real. The two Russian actors playing the roles of Boris and Zhenya are unknown to me, but are nothing short of outstanding. I absolutely love how Zvyagintsev chooses a camera angle and setup, and then simply lets the scene unfold. Check the lunch scene between Boris and his co-worker, where they discuss their company's policy on divorce, all playing out over several minutes in a single take without any camera angle changes. The second half of the movie, focusing on the search for Alexey, is simply chilling and by the end of the movie I was emotionally spent. That is of course a dead giveaway that I was emotionally involved and invested in the movie, the sign of a top quality movie, "Loveless" was nominated at this year's Oscars for Best Foreign Language Movie, but did not win. I have now seen all 5 of the Oscar nominated movies in this category, and with all due respect to the Oscar winner "A Fantastic Woman", I have no doubt in my mind that "Loveless" is a better movie, and should've won. Alas, I am also quite certain that quite a few of the Oscar voters were turned off by the very bleak nature of "Loveless", in fact quite the opposite of "A Fantastic Woman". After the thinly-veiled criticism of the Russian authorities in "Leviathan", it came as no surprise that the Russian government refused any funding for "Loveless", so Zvyagintsev had to obtain funding from elsewhere (mostly Western Europe).
"Loveless" premiered at last year's Cannes festival to immediate critical acclaim. It finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended dismally (4 people in total, including myself). That is a darn shame. Hopefully this movie will gain a wider audience as it gets distributed on various platforms. If you are in the mood for a devastating family drama movie that is nothing short of top-notch, I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Russian writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev, who previously brought us such excellent films like 2012's Oscar-nominated Leviathan, and 2011's Elena. In "Loveless", he goes a very different direction, examining modern day life in Moscow with its endless apartment buildings, and the correlating urban loneliness. The very bitter feelings between Boris and Zhenya are at times shocking, but feel very real. The two Russian actors playing the roles of Boris and Zhenya are unknown to me, but are nothing short of outstanding. I absolutely love how Zvyagintsev chooses a camera angle and setup, and then simply lets the scene unfold. Check the lunch scene between Boris and his co-worker, where they discuss their company's policy on divorce, all playing out over several minutes in a single take without any camera angle changes. The second half of the movie, focusing on the search for Alexey, is simply chilling and by the end of the movie I was emotionally spent. That is of course a dead giveaway that I was emotionally involved and invested in the movie, the sign of a top quality movie, "Loveless" was nominated at this year's Oscars for Best Foreign Language Movie, but did not win. I have now seen all 5 of the Oscar nominated movies in this category, and with all due respect to the Oscar winner "A Fantastic Woman", I have no doubt in my mind that "Loveless" is a better movie, and should've won. Alas, I am also quite certain that quite a few of the Oscar voters were turned off by the very bleak nature of "Loveless", in fact quite the opposite of "A Fantastic Woman". After the thinly-veiled criticism of the Russian authorities in "Leviathan", it came as no surprise that the Russian government refused any funding for "Loveless", so Zvyagintsev had to obtain funding from elsewhere (mostly Western Europe).
"Loveless" premiered at last year's Cannes festival to immediate critical acclaim. It finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended dismally (4 people in total, including myself). That is a darn shame. Hopefully this movie will gain a wider audience as it gets distributed on various platforms. If you are in the mood for a devastating family drama movie that is nothing short of top-notch, I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.
...but as unfailingly engrossing as any film i've ever seen.
This is as dark as any theme comes but portrayed with such incredible realism that it will make you wince. Wounded, damaged, soulless parents that take your breath away. And although we meet the son only a short time, I personally felt such ache & pain for him, it was palpable. The scene with him in the bathroom one of the most devastating ever filmed. And yes, all the allegories & metaphors execute beautifully...about Russian, our society, technology & narcissism. Far more if you care to dig deeper. you will NOT easily get this film out of your head & that's testament to all involved.
This is as dark as any theme comes but portrayed with such incredible realism that it will make you wince. Wounded, damaged, soulless parents that take your breath away. And although we meet the son only a short time, I personally felt such ache & pain for him, it was palpable. The scene with him in the bathroom one of the most devastating ever filmed. And yes, all the allegories & metaphors execute beautifully...about Russian, our society, technology & narcissism. Far more if you care to dig deeper. you will NOT easily get this film out of your head & that's testament to all involved.
Tells a tragic story with a beautiful and cold cinematography. Features powerful performances (specially with the roles of the mother, the father and the grandmother) although it suffers from a slow pace throught its long runtime. There were two scenes which I found particulary remarkable, those being: the one in the morgue and the argument with the grandmother. I felt some lack of character development and I wish I could have seen more of the kid, since we pretty much just followed the parents' point of view. Overall, the film managed to keep me interested and plugged even with a slow rythm, the acting and the direction of photography were its main strenghts.
7.7
10Panos242
Andrey Zvyagintsev is one of the best directors nowadays and i truly regard Loveless his greatest film so far. It is a complex, deep portrait of a society in decay since it is composed of superficial people, extremely selfish and harsh. What really matters is their little world and their perfect image which is filtered through the social media. People totally empty whose attitude will have tragic consequences. Loveless is a socking experience because of its unbearable truth. This society that is described could be anywhere. Not only in Russia. So, besides the perfect screenplay, Loveless carries an absolutely powerful direction and a hauntingly beautiful cinematography. Moreover editing, music and acting are all top class. Loveless is an unforgettable experience, a film that is recommended to everyone. It will make you think and think for good. 10/10
Did you know
- TriviaOfficial submission of Russia for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 90th Academy Awards in 2018. However, the movie lost out to the Chilean transgender drama, A Fantastic Woman (2017).
- GoofsWhile the plot sets in late 2012, Sleepwalking by Bring Me The Horizon, that was released in 2013, plays in the car.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 75th Golden Globe Awards (2018)
- SoundtracksSilouans Song
Composed by Arvo Pärt
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Нелюбов
- Filming locations
- Shodnenskiy Kovsh, Yuzhnoye Tushino District, Moscow, Russia(woods and river)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $566,356
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $30,222
- Feb 18, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $3,928,358
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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