Superdeep

Russian cinema never ceases to surprise us by arriving with limited means to offer films capable of standing up to American films on their own ground. When we discover Arseniy Sukhin's first film, we think in particular of John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) with its base in Antarctica, his creature modifying humans...) but Superdeep presents enough originality to offer us a thriller behind closed doors as anguishing as it is captivating, in which scientists will have to face a new entity.

In the first minutes of the film, the action begins and we follow a small research team that goes below the surface to discover what terrible secret is hidden in the deepest borehole in the world. Some of the people who worked there are missing, while others seem to be suffering from a form of dementia. What they will discover turns out to be the greatest scientific threat in history. The future of humanity is in their hands and their decisions will determine whether or not the human race will be endangered.

On a scenario written in several hands by Victor Bondaryuk, Sergey Torchilin, Milena Radulovic, Arseniy Sukhin, the director Arseniy Sukhin gives us a real plunge into hell and shows us that science proves to be a double-edged sword, it can as much lead the human race towards discoveries allowing to fight against scourges of all kinds but also provoke by dint of not respecting nature the erosion of new dangers. Rather skillfully the scenario succeeds from the start with a superb photograph in support to make credible this fungus of a new kind that attacks the human system and transforms its victims. The originality of the treatment and the fact that the film is Russian brings a new breath to a genre appreciated in cinema. Certainly some will not appreciate its slow enough pace and the fact that Superdeep (Kolskaya sverhglubokaya) avoids any gory overbidding to move towards a tense paranoid thriller.

Once again the Gérardmer festival presents us with a vision of world cinema by welcoming this efficient film that has nothing to envy to American films on a related subject. We will also appreciate the presence of the young actress Milena Radulovic who plays a young scientist overwhelmed by events after a first failure narrated in the introductory scene...

Superdeep (Kolskaya sverhglubokaya)
Directed by Arseniy Sukhin
Produced by Sergey Torchilin, Andrey Lyakhov, Ivan Tarlykov, Konstantin Elkin & Sergey Kulikov
Written by Victor Bondaryuk, Sergey Torchilin, Milena Radulovic, Arseniy Sukhin
Starring Milena Radulovic, Sergey Ivanyuk, Nikolay Kovbas, Kirill Kovbas, Nikita Dyuvbanov
Music by Dmitry Selipanov
Cinematography: Hayk Kirakosyan
Edited by Sergey Torchilin
Distributed by Program Store (France)
Running time: 115 minutes

Seen on January 28, 2021 (Gerardmer Festival)

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