“A taut, straightforward drama with genuine emotions and a clear curiosity”

How do you find your way forward when everything you have been told is sacred is almost immediately stolen away from you in one fell swoop, without any warning or concern about how it will impact your future, and that of those who are still to come? This is something that Tatjana Moutchnik sets out to investigate in her fascinating directorial debut, February, Seven Days, a film that explores what it means to live in a world where we are constantly told that order is inevitable, despite our own experiences proving the exact opposite. The film takes place primarily in an apartment in Stuttgart, where brothers Arkady and Igor find their way to their father’s home after the death of their mother. It is here that the family will sit shiva, united by the shared mourning of their beloved matriarch. Arkady has been living in Germany for years, where he raised his two daughters, while Igor remained in their native Ukraine, where his teenage son had his own formative experiences, and where he hopes to return soon. Over the course of a few days the family oscillates between mourning and bickering, which is only exacerbated by the sudden outbreak of war when the Russian invasion of Ukraine coincides with their period of mourning, adding yet another layer of difficulty to their already uncomfortable situation. A film with clear intentions and the solid foundation to turn it into something undeniably interesting, February, Seven Days proves to be an honest and deeply unnerving glimpse into the experiences of a family coming to terms with unconscionable loss, both the deeply personal and the shatteringly universal kind.

The underlying complexity of this film emerges when we look at it as a story that is attempting to reconcile the deeply intimate with something much more widespread and almost universally relatable. The invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces in 2022 initially seemed like yet another hostile escalation of an ongoing conflict, one that we expected would just continue in the same cycle that we had been witnessing for years. However, it turned out to be far more brutal than anyone could’ve anticipated, which is why we continue to see filmmakers (both from within Ukraine and outside of it) attempting to make sense of that fateful moment in contemporary global history, proving that there is always something new to say about the ongoing war. While most of these films either focus on those involved in the war effort directly, or the civilians who watch their country undergo destruction, February, Seven Days focuses on those living in the diaspora, people who are witnessing the unhinged annihilation of the cities that they used to call home, but who have now settled abroad. Moutchnik is very interested in exploring the conflict between the two brothers who find themselves at opposite ends of the argument around whether it is better to stay where it is safe, or if it is more loyal and dutiful to return to Ukraine, where they will most certainly have to endure enormous hardship. The film doesn’t try to provide solutions, since it is entirely aware that it is asking unanswerable questions, and instead focuses on presenting different sides of the argument and revealing the more complex emotions that sit beneath the surface of such challenging conversations.

At its core, February, Seven Days is primarily a character-driven chamber drama, and it is somewhat surprising that it is an original film rather than an adaptation of an existing play, solely because of how it functions as a much simpler, straightforward exploration of some incredibly complex themes. The apartment in Stuttgart suddenly becomes the location of discussions that run the gamut, interrogating everything from politics and culture, to the lengths to which you will go to protect your family, particularly when caught between a nearly impossible decision. All of these ideas weave together seamlessly, allowing Moutchnik some flexibility in terms of the themes being explored. Her stance on the issue is undeniably clear, but she does evidently see value in playing the different angles against themselves in an effort to get to the root of many different opinions and how they often overlap more than they conflict with one another. There are certainly moments where it seems to be veering towards being slightly didactic, which is to be expected from a film that explores a very complex cultural and political issue through a series of debates and arguments that reveal the many different sides of the narrative. What is most important is that the director makes sure that every moment of emotional expression, whether subtle or more intense, feels earned and logical, never resorting to the kind of overly melodramatic outbursts that would usually be found in such a film. The cast, consisting of six key characters, works closely with the director to realise the central themes through their solid and genuine performances, which aligns with the film’s primary intention to be a challenging character study in which we explore the same event through the eyes of a group of people who find themselves at odds with one another as a result of conflicting existential anxieties between them.

February, Seven Days is certainly far from perfect, and it is evidently a debut film since it contains a few of the expected shortcomings we expect from a first-time director (such as the film featuring at least half a dozen climactic moments that mislead us into thinking we’ve reached the conclusion), while some of its stylistic choices can feel slightly too conventional and tied to a more predictable structure that ultimately isn’t all that rewarding on the surface. However, this eventually doesn’t prove to be too much of an impediment, since the film works around these more imperfect elements through actively engaging with the story on a profoundly human level, presenting that as the fundamental focus of the film more than anything else. It is a film that does facilitate a genuine sense of empathy for the people these characters represent, those who see their country in the midst of ongoing devastation, where they feel nothing if not entirely helpless. Fortunately, many of us have never (and probably likely will not) be forced to confront destruction on this level, but the sympathy that is provoked by this film does help us to understand the beyond daunting task of witnessing such annihilation, as well as the feeling of deep existential despair that comes about as a result. February, Seven Days is ultimately a taut, straightforward drama with genuine emotions and a clear curiosity about the conditions that can push someone past their limit, turning into a well-crafted, meaningful story of family, culture and the unbearable weight of seeing the world you once held sacred gradually falling apart entirely.