Richly stylized and dramatically raw, Beanpole fulfills the promise the now-27-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov made with his searing 2017 debut Closeness. Leaving audiences buzzing at Cannes and eventually claiming both the Best Director and FIPRESCI prizes in the festival’s Un Certain Regard section, Balagov, a former student of cinema master Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark), instantly became one of world cinema’s most invigorating new talents. Set in the ravaged city of Leningrad in 1945, friends Iya and Masha, who met fighting on the frontlines during WWII, attempt to restore purpose to their lives in the strange aftermath of war while working at an overcrowded veteran’s hospital. With a staggeringly rich color palette of verdant emeralds, glowing ambers, and deep reds to juxtapose the foggy subject matter, Balagov has painted a devastating portrait of the brutality of the mind that you won’t soon forget.