Burnt by the Sun

A sun-drenched summer idyll slowly curdles into dread, as a charming intruder turns a family gathering into a quiet, devastating reckoning.

Directed by

Nikita Mikhalkov

Genres

Drama

Starring

Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė

Tagline

A moving and poignant story set against the corrupt politics of the Stalinist era.

Overview

Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his dacha with his young wife and six-year-old daughter Nadia and other assorted family and friends. Things change dramatically with the unheralded arrival of Cousin Dmitri from Moscow, who charms the women and little Nadia with his games and pianistic bravura. But Kotov isn't fooled: this is the time of Stalin's repression, with telephone calls in the middle of the night spelling doom - and he knows that Dmitri isn't paying a social call...

How it feels

Melancholic, tense, dark and warm. Slow-burning and demanding.

About

Betrayal, revenge, power, guilt

Content

Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)