Olga Dragunova

Winner of an Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival, "Tesnota" is the incendiary debut feature from the brilliant filmmaker Kantemir Balagov ("Beanpole"). After the friends and family of a close-knit Jewish enclave gather to celebrate an engagment in the North Caucasus, a young couple is kidnapped and a ransom demanded, but involving the police is out of the question.

After his shockingly powerful Closeness, this searing war drama from Russian wunderkind Kantemir Balagov grabbed us by the throat. An entrancing immersion into post-war turmoil, this towering ode to women’s resilience stuns with its tour-de-force performances and jaw-dropping use of color.