#TIFF26: “MINOTAUR” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s latest is a reworking of Claude Chabrol’sLa femme infidèle (The Unfaithful Wife) but adapted to the filmmaker’s homeland, Russia, at the start of its war on Ukraine.

Gleb (Dmitriy Mazurov) is a powerful corporate Director with the picture-perfect family…until the start of the war, when his picturesque life begins to crumble. Ordered by the government, he must pick 14 workers to fill draft quotas for front-line warfare. And his life at home isn’t as idyllic as he once thought. When he finds out his wife Galina (Iris Lebedeva) is having an affair, he gets blood on his hands.

Zvyagintsev masters the ability to allow the camera to stay in each scene longer than we feel comfortable. This allows dread to soak in each frame, like we’re awaiting impending doom. Therefore, placing the audience in the anxiety of war, even if we aren’t on the front lines; the threat is always there. 

Zvyagintsev perfectly exposes the rhetoric of warmongering through Gleb’s quest to find 14 workers to send to war. Gleb sneaks his way into getting these men, which shows what governmental pressures can push a person to do. Zvyagintsev parallels this with the infidelity story where the impact of toxic patriarchy is examined. There’s an unforgettable —very lengthly — scene in the middle of the film that will shock audiences.

Overall, Minotaur is Zvyagintsev at his finest as he examines a nation that seems determined to destroy. Mazurov and Lebedeva both give nuanced performances that thrill and shock.

Minotaur screens at TIFF ’26:

Tues. Sept 15 @ 4:45 PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre

Wed. Sept 16 @ 6:15 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto