Andrey Zvyaginstev presents a different, more harrowing marital drama with his latest feature, Minotaur. The film, which screened at the 62nd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, intertwines politics with personal drama in a way that will chill audiences to the bone.

Set in modern Russia amid the war against Ukraine, Gleb (Dmitriy Mazurov), a well-connected businessman, finds his quiet life suddenly falling apart. He discovers his wife, Galina (Iris Lebedeva), is having an affair. Amid this discovery, he is tasked with selecting employees from his company for military service in the war. 

Mazurov plays Gleb with a chilly dissonance. He carries on with a stoicism that embodies what he thinks a man should be. However, as his troubles escalate, Gleb’s incompetence shines through. Mazurov’s unraveling teeters into comical territory as we realize Gleb is not what he projects. He becomes manic and frazzled, and his inner tension seeps into the audience’s body.

Meanwhile, Galina becomes an accessory to Gleb, relegated to the “ideal” domestic role reflective of the government’s values. Her frustration pours out in erratic ways, though. Lebedeva fills Galina with tangible pain. She is constantly trapped between indulging her needs and protecting herself.

Zvyagintsev masterfully builds the mounting dread with a slow-moving camera, peeking around corners and peering into rooms. He invokes this feeling that we shouldn’t be watching this unfold. The stillness almost swallows you whole.

In many ways, Minotaur is about control and the systems that enable those who have it to cling to it. Gleb’s personal dilemmas and the greater political goings-on become inextricably intertwined and reflective of each other. Whether it’s Gleb or his powerful colleagues, we see callous men cling to power with a vice-like grip, making decisions for others with no regard for their lives.

The film’s namesake is a monster in Greek mythology that dwells at the center of the Labyrinth. The people of Athens were forced by the king to select fourteen citizens to sacrifice as retribution for the king’s fallen son. Gleb is forced to select fourteen employees to go to war. Military service is constantly framed as serving and protecting the country despite the severe way in which everyone responds to it. These people do not hold control over their fates, and the people in control are well insulated by a system that has no interest in holding them accountable.

Gleb and Galina’s rotting marriage mirrors the rot of their own country. They both subscribe to ideals and a specific way of life, much to the detriment of the people subjected to the ideals. Decisions are made on behalf of others without their consent or even knowledge. There is little care for the people at the center of it, so long as a status quo is maintained. 

For Zvyaginstev, there is no separation of personal from the political. Political issues bleed into the personal lives of the people. When corrupt politics are embraced, that will seep into every corner of life.

Review Courtesy of Adam Patla

Feature image credit to of MUBI via Cinema/Chicago