Russian filmmaker Andreï Zviaguintsev has been a familiar presence at the Cannes Film Festival for nearly two decades, from “Elena” and “Leviathan” to “Loveless.” Now, after nearly a decade away from features, he’s back with “Minotaur,” a 2026 Cannes Competition title that went on to win the festival’s Grand Prix.
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Set in Russia in 2022, the film follows Gleb, a successful company director whose carefully ordered life begins to collapse under mounting corporate pressure, the instability of the outside world, and a domestic betrayal that pushes him toward violence. Cannes describes the film as unfolding amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the conflict reshaping Gleb’s family, his company, and the people around him as some flee west and others are drafted by the government.
There’s also a clear cinephile lineage here. The Cannes write-up notes that part of the screenplay was directly inspired by Claude Chabrol’s “La Femme infidèle,” aka “The Unfaithful Wife,” which uses marital betrayal as a tipping point and draws a parallel between national violence and one man’s private implosion.
Zviaguintsev directs and co-writes the film, with Iris Lebedeva starring as Galina. Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine composed the music. The film is a France, Latvia, and Germany co-production, with Les Films du Losange listed as distributor and MK2 Films handling international sales.
No U.S. release date has been announced yet, but a French International trailer from Les Films du Losange is available to watch now, giving you the first real look at the drama.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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