Motherland

Motherland - a tourist is stuck in a foreign country in the midst of an epidemic: the borders are closed, acquaintance with the local culture is canceled, and all that is left for entertainment is a window and a TV. It’s impossible to stay at home - your health is deteriorating, and one day you have to go outside. The owner of the apartment where the guest was staying left behind a few things and an empty refrigerator. The town is presented in gray tones: empty streets, queues at the pharmacy, rare passers-by who are not happy to see a stranger. Exploring the province becomes the main activity, and in every alley there is something that tells about what is happening better than the news. There are different housemates: some share food, others lock themselves in, and it is not at all necessary to communicate with them. The plot develops nonlinearly and depends on actions. Help a neighbor or sit it out, give the medicine or keep it for yourself - decisions are made without prompting, and the consequences come later than expected. The news is on TV all day long, and it only makes things more alarming. The atmosphere of hopelessness is supported by details: broken elevators, conversations in the entrance, the TV always on. The game is short, but leaves an unpleasant aftertaste precisely because it seems to be true. The streets look lived-in, despite the desolation: laundry is drying in the courtyards, old women are sitting at the entrances, and old advertisements remain on the walls. Part of the story is told through little things like discarded items and empty stores. The ending leaves the viewer with a question rather than an answer, and this is a conscious choice of the authors here. For those who appreciate slow stories about people in difficult times and do not expect a cheerful ending from them.