Viktoriya Miroshnichenko

Viktoriya Miroshnichenko is effective when she scarcely seems to be doing anything. In Beanpole (2019), her screen debut for Kantemir Balagov, her stillness makes Iya Sergeyevna seem exposed even when she says little. Alongside Vasilisa Perelygina, she carries a story about two women in post-war Leningrad. We were moved by her near-silent passages, because the strain registers without her having to announce it.

That debut remains the clearest reason to follow her, though smaller parts followed in A Fairy Tale for the Old (2022) and The White List (2023). In Limonov: The Ballad (2024), Kirill Serebrennikov casts her as Elena opposite Ben Whishaw. Her willingness to appear exposed makes the casting persuasive. The difficulty is finding enough room for that performance in a film so occupied with Eddie.

The long takes in Limonov: The Ballad have real excitement, and the film is not short of energy. Serebrennikov nevertheless allows the staging to distract from a thin account of what drives Eddie. Whishaw keeps it watchable, while the concentration on its central man leaves less attention for Elena. Miroshnichenko's openness is an asset, but it cannot make up for that imbalance. We would not recommend it as the place to discover her; the direction too often gets in the way.

Her lead as Sasha in Aleksandr Molochnikov's short Extremist (2025) adds to a body of work still too small for sweeping declarations. The danger is that repeated casting for vulnerability could become restrictive, however well she handles it. She should not have to look wounded in every part to give a director something worth keeping in close-up. We would like to see what happens when she is asked for something else. For now, begin with Beanpole.