Intense and at times suspenseful! Director Zvyagintsev, who also wrote the screenplay along with Oleg Negin, impressively created realistic scenarios involving family relationships and conflicts as well as the intricacies when husband and wife have children from past relationships. Indeed, a parent can never say No to a child and there is always a tendency to over-indulge and spoil them even beyond reasonable circumstances. Very interesting to observe the relationship between Vladimir and daughter, as well as the relationship between Elena and son. Both of them only want the best for their child but I'd have to say Elena is more fortunate. This is because her relationship with her son is genuine and ideal, never mind if he is jobless and relying on her financially. Vladimir on the other hand is not that lucky, his daughter Katerina is not only spoiled but she's heartless and shows no affection toward him. That hospital scene and father-daughter dialogue intricately lays out the realization,  the father-daughter relationship is a non-existent one. Very depressing indeed.  This movie will also challenge viewers on what is morally right, and  if doing an unforgivable act is justified if the sole purpose leading to the action was for the good of  all.  Spell-binding! You should definitely watch this!