A Gentle Creature

"A captivating, hallucinatory plunge into Russia's atrophied civil society, in which a woman's search for answers is rewarded with humiliation and abuse."

"Loznitsa's construction of this world apart - which is, of course, a grotesque allegory for Russia itself - is as immersive as it is unnerving."

"It certainly provides a convulsive, if not cathartic kind of horror."

"The film never regains its delicate balance between women's drama and parable of nationhood; but it remains a fascinating failure."

"When she realises that her odyssey is pointless and that there are far more pressing concerns in Mother Russia than a missing prisoner, Loznitsa takes a bold stylistic U-turn before unloading a final shotgun cartridge to the face in a silly coda."

"A Gentle Creature is not what one might call a fun watch. But it's also obviously not just horror for horror's sake."