East/West

In 1946, Stalin invites Russian emigrants to return home and help rebuild the country. Among those who answer is Alexei Golovin, a doctor who has made his life in France with his French wife, Marie, and their young son. The promise of amnesty turns out to be a trap: when their ship reaches Odessa, most of the passengers are executed or sent away, and only Alexei and his family are spared because the authorities see a use for a skilled physician. They are moved to Kiev, where Marie's passport is destroyed and she wants only to go back to France, while Alexei understands that they are prisoners whose every move is watched.

Régis Wargnier directed the film, which he wrote with Rustam Ibragimbekov and Louis Gardel. It followed his 1992 film Indochine and came before Redress (2025). Catherine Deneuve, Sandrine Bonnaire, Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov Jr., Tatyana Dogileva and Bohdan Stupka head a credited cast of thirty-six. The story unfolds largely in postwar Kiev, where the family's life becomes entangled with neighbours in a communal apartment.

Made for about 12 million dollars, the film returned roughly 6 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.4 out of 10 from around 5,400 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.4 from about 74. A critics' score of 6.6 from thirty-one reviews places it in similar territory to the audience response on IMDb.