Synopsis
Minsk, Belarus, 1996. Velya, an aspiring DJ, wants to move to Chicago to make her dreams come true, but bureaucracy, a phone line and the human condition will put obstacles in her way that will be difficult to avoid.
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Cast
- Alina NasibullinaVelya
- Ivan MulinStepan
- Yuriy BorisovAlik
- Svetlana AnikejVelya's Mother
- Ilya KapanetsKostya
- Anatasiya GarveyVika the Bride
- Lyudmila RazumovaStepan's Mother
- Natalya OnishenkoVika's Mother
- Anatoliy GolubPolice Detective
- Artem KurenStepan's Friend
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
No community is as straightforward as it seems in Zhuk and Landauer’s irony-rich, tone-switching script: What begins as a kookily comic quest is complicated by the emergence of human tragedy, prejudice and sexual threat. - 75
Slant Magazine
Throughout the film, it’s as if mundane objects hold the remedies for the wretchedness of everyday life. - 75
IndieWire
The American Dream may be a mass delusion, but it’s the realest thing in the world to those under its sway. Zhuk was able to manifest her destiny and make it across the ocean, and her movie offers a compelling glimpse at why that may have been the only choice her country ever gave her. - 75
The Playlist
What there is, however, is Nasibullina and she makes you root for Velya despite all the character’s faults - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Despite its relatively unusual setting, Crystal Swan is a largely conventional fish-out-of-water story at heart. But it is elevated above the routine by its excellent cast, especially Nassibulina, and plenty of visual flair. - 70
Screen Daily
The debut feature by Belarus-born, US-educated Darya Zhuk may be set in the mid-90s, but with a plot founded on a young Belarussian’s obsessive desire for an American visa, and a sting in the tale that chimes with the #metoo movement, it has a remarkably topical ring to it.
