Fidelity

Suspicion can poison your relationship. When Lena, a young woman in a passionless, sexless marriage, reads one of her husband’s text messages, she is convinced he is cheating on her. To get even she actively seeks out affairs, which gets hopelessly out of control.

The Russian Fidelity, a daring, explicit psychological drama about a woman rediscovering her sexuality and subsequently not being able to stop, was directed by a woman, Nigina Sayfullaeva, and you can tell. She completely sides with Lena, while the men in the latter’s life seemingly don’t have a clue how to deal with her desires. Her irrational, impulsive actions and the underlying, complex psychology are made wonderfully tangible by actress Evgeniya Gromova. This drama shot in soft, muted colours, asks whispered questions about the role of sex, power and vulnerability in relationships.