Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Aleksandra Bortich, Evgeniy Tsyganov, Vladimir Yaglych, Aleksander Robak
Intro:
…a strange, appealing, mishmash of genres and tropes with an unmistakably sharp Russian edge.
Every culture has their own thoughts about what it would be like to see ghosts. In American blockbuster, The Sixth Sense, it’s a heavy burden borne by a child. In Russian film, The Soul Conductor, it’s an enormous pain in the arse that can only be helped by vodka.
Katya (Aleksandra Bortich) is a moody, gloomy 22-year-old woman who can communicate with the spirits of the departed. The problem is, ghosts are bloody needy! They’re always demanding she help them with their unfinished business and strong spirits are the only way to deal with these, well, strong spirits. Just when you begin to suspect The Soul Conductor will become a Russian riff on Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners, Katya’s twin sister vanishes mysteriously and Katya begins to experience terrifying, nightmarish visions. A dark occurrence is taking place and Katya must try to solve the mystery before it kills her, however it’s hard for her to trust her own fractured, drunken mind much less anyone else…
The Soul Conductor is a strange, appealing, mishmash of genres and tropes with an unmistakably sharp Russian edge. Aleksandra absolutely steals the show as the troubled Katya, and watching her work through a compelling supernatural yarn never stops being engaging. Director Ilya S. Maksimov directs with confidence, imbuing some of the more rote ghost attacks with a genuine sense of tension and otherworldly horror. The film occasionally tries to overplay its hand, with the twists in the third act coming so fast they do tend to strain credulity. However, the strength of the lead and the unravelling of what’s real and what’s imagined gives The Soul Conductor enough narrative propulsion to be consistently intriguing. And while you may or may not be afraid of ghosts, either way it seems like a decent excuse to neck some vodka.
