Rating: C+
Dir: Vyacheslav Rudenko
Star: Ilya Korobko, Darya Melnikova, Timofey Dashuk, Varvara Verkhovykh
In the early going, this seems very much like a borscht copy of Ringu. There are a slew of suicides across St. Petersburg, with the victims all having said – before their deaths, naturally – that they are being harassed by a figure in white. This hits particularly close to home for Yegor (Korobko), because his father was a police officer, who had been investigating a similar series of events previously. Had, because Dad then vanished in mysterious circumstances, and Yegor now wants nothing more than to get out of the city. Before he can do so, he gets door-stepped by Karina (Melnikova) and Bogdan (Dashuk); their parents knew Yegor’s father, before they both became part of the previous suicides.
Yegor becomes more directly involved after saving the life of Vika (Verkhovykh), the intended next victim – however, this provides only temporary relief from the inexorable hand of the white man. Turns out there’s a curse, where the first person to see the corpse of a suicider (suicidee? whatever) takes over the curse. The figure then shows them the manner in which they are going to kill themselves: poison, hanging, self-immolation (top), etc. The trio have to figure out how the chain can be broken, and it’s a pressing matter, because the death of Vika has brought the curse in-house, so to speak. There is a way to obtain temporary relief and delay the inevitable to get some more time. Although it’s not exactly an ideal workaround, to put it mildly.
Especially early, the story does not bring a great deal new to the table. However, Rudenko’s execution is lively enough to make for a decent enough time-passer. We rarely get to glimpse the man in white for more than a second or two, and he’s certainly a creepy entity. While the deaths aren’t especially gory – fans of the Final Destination franchise need to rein in their expectations – they remain impactful. There’s one suffocation in particular, which feels as if it goes on forever, and is all the more horrific as a result. I will admit, the rules seems a little vague: it appears it doesn’t have to be suicide for the curse to be transferred, and the method of demise doesn’t seem to matter either.
Probably best not think too much about the details, and to the script’s credit, it does diverge further from the obvious influence in the final act. This brings in Yegor’s Uncle Boris (Vitaliy Krylov), a former colleague of his father, and we find out there might be a non-supernatural threat as well, with Karina being kidnapped by someone who has their own agenda. The film does a decent job with its setting, St. Petersburg being under-inhabited to a spooky degree, and given the air of a place where this kind of thing, if not exactly an everyday occurrence, could potentially happen. While never entirely able to escape its origins, as unacknowledged remakes go, I’ve definitely seen much worse.