Polina

Polina (Polina, danser sa vie, 2016) is a dance drama you can watch online on iFILM. Raised to reach the Bolshoi stage, Polina (Anastasia Shevtsova) trains for years under a strict ballet master while her parents scrape and bend the rules to keep her there. Then, one step from the classical career, she walks away.

Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and Valérie Müller direct, adapting Bastien Vivès' graphic novel. In Paris, Polina trades the rigid academy for modern dance and a demanding mentor played by Juliette Binoche. Her polished technique falls apart, and instead of memorized lines she has to find her own body and her own way of moving. Around her: a French boyfriend, no money, and the fear that she chose wrong.

What makes the film land is that dance isn't decoration here — it's the plot, and you watch doll-like precision grow into something raw and adult. Made for anyone who likes coming-of-age stories told through art. Stream Polina (2016) online on iFILM.