The Student (Uchenik)

 

"A serious, sharply mounted drama that gets more engrossing as it moves along."

​- Roger Ebert


"Kirill Serebrennikov's study of a problem teenager's religious awakening is as aesthetically kinetic as it is intellectually rigorous."

"The narrative starts out in the realm of unfussy realism and grows blacker, richer and more surreal."

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Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Runtime: 118 min
Rating: NR
DVDCat#: PRDVD3755
UPC: 602573246481
​Pre-book: 10/17/17
Street: 3/27/18
SRP: $24.95

GENRES:  Foreign, Drama, Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
After Venya’s mother receives a call from school reporting her son’s refusal to participate in mixed swimming lessons, she first suspects her teenager of being shy and derides his claim that it is “against his religion.”

As Venya is finally exempted by the school’s devout principal, he grows confident that his strict and rigorous study of the Bible gives him the ability to manipulate all forms of authority. Challenged by a teacher who refuses to consent to his dogma, he sets out to eliminate her and subdue an entire community.

At a time when arguments over the teaching of religion in public schools are prominent in the media, this wildly escalating classroom drama — based on a play by German playwright Marius von Mayenburg — serves as a frightening cautionary tale.