Petrov's Flu

Based on a novel by Alexei Salnikov, Petrov's flu takes us on a journey along the feverish Petrov, a family father in post-Soviet Russia who is one of the victims of a flu epidemic. The city seems to be in a state of breakdown, both because of the epidemic and due to a wave of nostalgia towards the pre-Gorbachev years. As the flu takes hold of Petrov, we are taken on a wild, nightmarish journey where hallucinations, surrealist scenes and reality mix together. 

All the confusion only draws us deeper into the main character's hallucinatory fever. In any case, the audience does not know which twists and turns will come in the next scene, so just hang on to the camera movement which is in constant motion, switching with ease between movie genres. Director Kirill Serebrennikov is a notable figure in Russia as a well-known theater director and dissident artist: this is his second film nominated at Cannes, and the second time Serebrennikov is prevented by the Russian authorities to attend.