Crease

School principal Nina Valentinovna could not be prouder as she sits before an interviewer, sharing her thoughts for a news channel. She talks of her star pupil, Pyotr, a maths genius and a child with special needs.

The principal extols her school’s values and how they train their students to always uphold them, while eschewing topics of conflict and social turbulence. However, as Valentinovna overlooks a crucial truth about the impact of a war and violence-ridden society on children, and how it translates into their own equations and dynamics, and instead only offers empty, clinical facts which might mean very little in the real world, another parallel reality is unfolding outside this interview.

Young Max becomes a focal point in what follows, presenting a very incisive glimpse into how children operate within their spaces away from the adult world. A skilled screenplay that portrays all this, coupled with expert performances that strengthen the film right till the very end, ensures that the narrative offers a hard-hitting commentary on innocence, and more shockingly, on the cruelty that can thrive within the same realm. The apathy of adults, or worse, their personal ambition mixed with casual indifference, further adds an emotional layer to the storytelling, all of which together present a story that is sure to stay with the viewer for a long time.