Khottabych

Khottabych (2006) is a Russian comedy-fantasy you can watch online on iFILM. Director Pyotr Tochilin took the beloved Soviet genie tale and rewired it for the digital age: the pioneer schoolboy is gone, replaced by Gena, a Moscow programmer who lives and breathes hacking.

Gena's life was already a mess before any magic — girlfriend gone, gangsters on his tail, security services closing in. Then he cracks open an ancient flask and out steps Khottabych, a genie who spent a few thousand years in solitary and is eager to pay off his debt with three wishes. Catch: Khottabych has his own enemy on the hunt, the vengeful Shaitanych. Vladimir Tolokonnikov plays the genie; Marius Jampolskis is Gena.

Flying linoleum over Red Square, chases through the World Wide Web, people turned into furniture. The film gets real mileage out of clashing old fairy-tale logic with early-2000s Russia. Watch Khottabych (2006) online on iFILM.