Beanpole (2019)

The film presents an explicit lesbian relationship between the two protagonists as a central narrative axis, shown with nudity and unambiguous sexual scenes. Beyond the technical quality characteristic of Russian art-house cinema, the work normalizes this relationship as a natural response to the shared trauma of war. The setting in devastated Leningrad of 1945 functions as a backdrop to explore emotional survival, but the script resolves the existential void of the protagonists through an intimacy that contradicts the natural order. The violence is not physical but psychological: Iya's PTSD produces a particularly disturbing scene where a child dies accidentally during one of her episodes. The oppressive cinematography and muted color palette reinforce the weight of the trauma, but do not alter the underlying message. For parents: the level of explicit sexual content and the normalization of homosexuality as an escape from pain make this work a clear case of a Substance Alert with a Form Alert superimposed. Not recommended.