This one is a miss. It's based on a book by Strugatsky brothers, but fails miserably to bring to the screen the enigmatic quality the book possesses. It's rather a straight forward attempt to push a liberal agenda. And a clumsy one imho. The book is way more nuanced and really tries to make one think on a subject of humanity.
The movie feels cheap and it is in most parts poorly acted. Especially by children actors. It's often regarded as Tarkovsky's influenced film (Lopushanskiy, the director, being a Tarkovsky's protege) but it isn't. I don't see any Tarkovsky influences here. Nether in style, nor in story construction.
Review of The Ugly Swans
