Temple

Watch Temple (2022) online on iFILM — a Russian drama directed by Rauf Kubaev, with Andrei Sokolov, Yuri Nazarov, and Aleksandr Bashirov in the lead roles. At twenty, Grigory did something he has never been able to leave behind. Years later, he lives far from any city, near his elderly mother, who can see her son is suffering but has no way to reach him.

Kubaev's film moves slowly and doesn't explain itself. Less about what Grigory did than about the specific texture of guilt that becomes a way of living. Sokolov plays it without ornament — understated in a way that makes the film hit harder than it might otherwise. Stream Temple (2022) online on iFILM.