---
title: "Loveless"
year: 2017
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/loveless"
fi1m_score: 83
critics_score: 76
critics_reviews: 26
published: "2026-09-17T08:48:44.246656+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T08:48:44.527128+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Loveless (2017)

Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev · 2h 02m · Drama

**Fi1m score: 83** · Critics 76 from 26 reviews

*In a sentence:* The strangers looking for this child are the first adults we would trust with him

> Andrey Zvyagintsev’s missing-child drama is gripping and deeply upsetting, with performances that make parental neglect hard to watch. Its diagnosis of Russia can be heavy-handed; the family story is painful enough without it.

## Synopsis

In contemporary Russia, Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin) are going through a bitter separation. Their quarrels and preoccupation with their own lives leave their son, Alyosha (Matvey Novikov), without the attention he needs. He cries silently, unseen by the adults who are supposed to care for him. When Alyosha disappears, the parents have to turn back towards the child they have neglected. They want to find him, but must deal with one another to do so. The search draws strangers into a family whose members have stopped looking after each other.

## Review

*Loveless* is a gripping, punishing drama about parents whose mutual hatred has left their son desperate for attention. Andrey Zvyagintsev begins with a marriage coming apart and follows the damage beyond the family, until a search for one missing boy becomes an accusation against contemporary Russia. We recommend it for the precision with which it shows neglect, despite some over-insistent attempts to make these parents speak for a country. The film is most convincing when it stays close to the child.

Maryana Spivak’s Zhenya and Aleksey Rozin’s Boris are convincing in the exhausting familiarity of their hostility. These are arguments in which neither expects to persuade the other, yet neither can stop. The screenplay by Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin allows their loathing to spread from the marriage to the child, with no comforting suggestion that parenthood will make them behave better. That is hard to watch, though the near-total lack of tenderness also begins to narrow what either actor can show us.

The glimpse of Alyosha silently crying is the scene that justifies the film’s severity. We were horrified. Matvey Novikov makes his distress so plain that the adults’ failure to notice him feels almost impossible to endure. It matters that the film lets us see what they do not: however far the story moves beyond the family, we keep thinking about this particular child and what he needs from his parents.

Mikhail Krichman’s cinematography sets the family within exact, chilly compositions, with room around people that seems to keep them apart. The winter landscapes have the same unwelcoming precision, and their beauty does nothing to make us want to linger there. Production designer Andrey Ponkratov gives the domestic scenes a similarly inhospitable feel, so being indoors offers little relief. That consistency makes the parents’ quarrels oppressive before either of them has finished speaking.

As the search widens, the film becomes a procedural, and its patience starts to work differently. Editor Anna Mass gives the effort to find Alyosha enough weight that other people’s attention begins to feel like a practical answer to his parents’ neglect. The volunteers are prepared to do something for a child who is not theirs, and the film’s view of them keeps its anger from becoming indiscriminate. We found their straightforward care deeply moving after so much domestic cruelty.

Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine’s music adds to the pressure; we never feel invited to enjoy the search simply as a thriller. The greater problem is the insistence that this marriage should explain an entire country. Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin have written the family with enough force that the broader political meaning can feel imposed upon it. Whenever the parents seem to be standing for Russia, their behaviour becomes too easy to categorise, and we lose some of the uncertainty that makes them frightening.

Missing-child dramas can turn suffering into a series of clues, with the search giving us something manageable to follow. *Loveless* makes that harder: our concern for Alyosha persists alongside our disgust with the adults, and neither feeling settles comfortably. At 122 minutes, it asks for sustained attention to people whose company we would ordinarily avoid. Choose it when there is time afterwards to sit quietly; anyone already raw about a child’s welfare should leave it for another evening.

*Fi1m score 83, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics find Loveless compelling despite its punishing bleakness, praising Zvyagintsev’s account of a bitter separation and a missing child as a forceful examination of social indifference in Russia. Praise clusters around the precise compositions, wintry cinematography and tension of the volunteer search sequences, with several reviews finding welcome humanity in the searchers’ care. The performances also earn approval for making the parents’ hostility convincing, while the boy’s distress gives the wider political reading an immediate emotional cost.

Reservations centre on whether that wider reading is earned: some critics find the symbolism heavy-handed, the misery excessive and the characters insufficiently nuanced. There are pacing objections too, though other reviews praise the patient storytelling. The spread is wide but predominantly positive; Sight and Sound offers the clearest dissent, admiring the compositions and editing while finding the connection between family tragedy and national failings forced.

### Reviews we read (26)

- **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (★★★★): The review highlights the film's punishing bleakness and yearning for transcendence, praising its tonal sleight-of-hand, geometric imagery, and exploration of inherited lovelessness and familial destruction. It singles out the formalism and earnest sadness that distinguish it from similar European miserabilism. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/loveless-2017/)
- **The Telegraph** (5/5): This pristine and merciless film is a pitiless critique of Russia, beginning in the cold and dropping in temperature as the search for the missing boy widens to reveal societal divisions. It praises the mesmeric horror of the volunteer search party and the vast implications of the small story. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/pristine-merciless-loveless-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Leslie Felperin (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a devastating, finely layered drama that illustrates the pathologies of Russian society through an intimate family story. It praises Zvyagintsev's gift for microcosms and technical craft while noting its parable-like reach into disconnection, institutional failure, and generational pain. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/loveless-review-1004910/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (85/100, inferred): The film is a pitiless parable that dissects a hollow society through the story of a child's disappearance amid his parents' toxic separation. It singles out the haunting image of the unseen boy silently screaming in anguish for its visual power and emotional impact. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/11/loveless-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-oscar-lost-boy-toxic-world)
- **Little White Lies**, Cian Traynor (4/4/4): The critic calls it a bleak but captivating vision of a society without empathy. He singles out the expert pacing, cinematography and performances that make the indictment of disconnection magnetic despite unlikeable characters. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/loveless)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film gripping despite its grimness, crediting Zvyagintsev's alive storytelling and indictment of spiritual rot in modern Russia, including both state repression and consumerist distractions. He notes the shift from domestic drama to a relentless procedural thriller centered on the missing child. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/loveless-and-permission)
- **The Times**, Tom Shone (★★★★): The film is a forbidding but commanding missing-child procedural that expands into a corrosive critique of Putin’s Russia as a beautiful monster of self-obsession. It singles out the pristine, dismaying cinematography and the ruined complex sequences for their prowling tension. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/film-review-loveless-and-the-15-17-to-paris-rkl0pmrfb)
- **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (4/5): The critic describes an unsettling and compelling drama about a missing child and disconnected lives. He praises the ghostly camerawork and obliquely political atmosphere that lingers despite occasional lags in the story. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/loveless)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (75/100, inferred): Zvyagintsev delivers a flinching study of modern Russia through a warring divorcing couple whose neglect of their son leads to an upsetting epiphany, deserving of awards for one powerful sequence. The analysis of child abuse is acute but the piling on of misery feels contrived and excessive at times. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/loveless-review-flinching-study-gets-to-the-dark-heart-of-russia-a3762401.html)
- **Film Comment**, Eric Hynes (70/100, inferred): Zvyagintsev crafts a precise, intentional drama where the camera acts as an independent narrative force. The film excels in its visual and structural rigor depicting selfish parents whose ignored child vanishes. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-loveless-zvyagintsev/)
- **Financial Times**, Nigel Andrews (3): Zvyagintsev tells it like it is in this blisteringly beautiful winter-framed story of parental hate driving a child to disappear. It singles out the heart-wrenching silent-sob glimpse of the boy and the caring volunteer crew as the only easy face to dwell on amid the numbing shell of remembered feeling. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/f64d8cde-0c00-11e8-8eb7-42f857ea9f09)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (70/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a corrosive and hypnotic portrait of domestic collapse that expands into a snapshot of Russian social malaise, keeping the unsympathetic parents at a remove to invite contempt rather than sympathy. He praises the grave majesty of the cinematography and the haunting images of volunteers searching desolate landscapes. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-loveless-review-20171130-story.html)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Godfrey Cheshire (70/100, inferred): The critic praises Zvyagintsev's clinical portrayal of a bitterly divorcing couple whose mutual loathing extends to their neglected son, framing it as a broader indictment of contemporary Russian society and its spiritual emptiness. He highlights the director's skill in using everyday details and visual compositions to expose technological solipsism and moral detachment. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/loveless-2017)
- **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (NYT Critic’s Pick): The critic describes the film as a pitiless portrait of a toxic marriage that reveals a larger national decay in Russia, with the parents' cruelty toward their son standing in for societal moral detachment. She singles out the bleakly beautiful visuals and the director's angry, tough temperament for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/movies/loveless-review-andrey-zvyagintsev.html)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): The critic describes the stark missing-child drama as a compelling meditation on the corruption and crisis of empathy at the core of Russian society under Putin. He notes how the title refers not only to the parents' relationship but to the broader forces fraying love and human connection. [Read](https://variety.com/2017/film/news/loveless-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-1202430108/)
- **Empire**, Andrew Lowry (65/100, inferred): The film is superbly performed and photographed with a carefully considered critique of contemporary Russia, but it is obsessively bleak and hard to recommend. The central couple's bitter relationship is convincingly venomous, though the overall tone feels overly grim. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/loveless-review/)
- **Screen Daily** (60/100, inferred): The critic sees a cruel, desolate image of Russia's new middle class ruled by selfishness and anxiety. He praises the splendid winter cinematography and strong performances but notes the film tends to overstay its welcome at over two hours. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/loveless-cannes-review/5118020.article)
- **Sight and Sound**, Adam Nayman (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film forced in its heavy symbolic linkage of a family tragedy to broader Russian political failings. He praises the director's technical skill in widescreen compositions and editing but complains of pretentiousness and lack of nuance in characterisation. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-loveless-takes-symbolic-hammer-family-tragedy)
- **Consequence** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a masterpiece of brutal realism and observant drama, a haunting moral and political fable; singles out the director's patient gaze, long shots, and focus on family deterioration and apathy. [Read](https://consequence.net/2018/02/film-review-loveless-is-a-masterpiece-of-brutal-realism-and-observant-drama/)
- **Paste**, Tim Grierson (9.0): The critic praises Zvyagintsev's slow-burn moral drama that widens into a blistering commentary on callous society; singles out the perfectly composed, icy images and tightly drawn characters. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/loveless/loveless)
- **The Playlist** (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as Zvyagintsev's most brilliant and pessimistic work, a feel-bad masterpiece of visceral intelligence and skillful filmmaking that serves as a horrified commentary on Russia through an imploding family. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/andrey-zvyagintsevs-purgatorial-punishing-pristine-loveless-cannes-review/)
- **The Wrap**, Robert Abele (85/100, inferred): Zvyagintsev’s elegantly bleak domestic drama examines the aftereffects of a bitter marriage and the disappearance of a young son, revealing Russia’s psychological fault lines through private miseries turned petty wars. The critic singles out the film’s psychological acuity, societal insight, and the persistent humanity shown in the collective search effort amid the bleak imagery. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/loveless-film-review-russia-oscar-foreign-film/)
- **NME**, Olly Richards (4/5): A cold, unhappy but riveting watch centered on selfish parents forced to confront their failings after their son disappears. The Russian setting underscores a clash of traditionalism and modern selfishness. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/loveless-review-2236844)
- **HeyUGuys**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh (75/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's use of silence, sound design, and visual juxtapositions as strengths in depicting a loveless marriage and society. They note the self-absorbed parents and broader social decay but criticize the heavy-handed political metaphors regarding Russia and Ukraine. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/loveless-review/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (3.5/5): The critic highlights the strong camerawork and maintained mood in portraying fractured families and self-centered parents. They find the unremitting bleakness, heavy-handed metaphors, and gender imbalance make the film hard to fully recommend. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/loveless-2017-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **The Skinny**, Joseph Walsh (★★★): Zvyagintsev delivers a stark, brutal film about a loveless home and a missing child amid toxic divorce. It is captured with expert cinematography and lingers as a savage portrait of indifference and suffering. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/international-festivals/cannes/loveless)

## Details

- **Director:** Andrey Zvyagintsev
- **Director:** Andrey Zvyagintsev
- **Writer:** Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev
- **Cinematography:** Mikhail Krichman
- **Editor:** Anna Mass
- **Music:** Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
- **Production design:** Andrey Ponkratov
- **Costume design:** Anna Bartuli
- **Producer:** Gleb Fetisov, Sergey Melkumov, Alexander Rodnyansky
- **Cast:** Maryana Spivak as Zhenya; Aleksey Rozin as Boris; Matvey Novikov as Alyosha; Aleksey Fateev as Coordinator; Marina Vasilyeva as Masha; Andris Keišs as Anton; Nataliya Potapova as Zhenya's Mother; Sergey Borisov as Police Officer
- **Runtime:** 2h 02m
- **First release (France):** 18 May 2017
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Box office:** $4 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h5GuecUU-Q

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd
- Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, FR, GB, IE, IT, JP, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2018: Best International Feature Film (nominated)
- César Award for Best Foreign Film 2018: César Award for Best Foreign Film (won)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 2018: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Cinematographer 2017: European Film Award for Best Cinematographer (won)
- European Film Award for Best Composer 2017: European Film Award for Best Composer (won)
- European Film Award for Best Director 2017: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Film 2017: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2017: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (nominated)
- European University Film Award 2017: European University Film Award (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The 400 Blows* (1959), Fi1m 91: A neglected boy makes the adults’ everyday failures impossible to ignore. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)
- *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: A separating couple’s private grievances spread, with more room for competing sympathies. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md)
- *The Return* (2003), Fi1m 88: Two boys and their father, with affection repeatedly thwarted by authority. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king.md)
- *The Hunt* (2012), Fi1m 82: A community’s certainty becomes frightening through patient observation and a wounded central performance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-hunt.md)
- *Still Walking* (2008): Family resentments emerge through ordinary conversation, with more warmth and no easy forgiveness.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/loveless