Elena

Elena (2011) is a Russian drama-thriller you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev and starring Nadezhda Markina. Elena has spent years running the household of her wealthy husband Vladimir — a comfortable arrangement that works for him more than for her.

Vladimir (Andrei Smirnov) survives a heart attack and revises his estate plans. His estranged daughter (Elena Lyadova) is set to inherit most of it. Elena's son — unemployed, family in tow — gets nothing. A quiet calculation takes shape, and the film watches it happen with the detachment of a surveillance camera.

Zvyagintsev keeps every emotion below the surface, which is precisely the point. No outbursts, no dramatic confrontations — just the logic of a decision reached in private. The film took the Jury Prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard section. Watch Elena (2011) online on iFILM.