An enigmatic, slow-burn Polish film, packed with mysticism and dreamlike imagery anchored by the suitably blank Alec Utgoff (of Stranger Things‘ fame), Never Gonna Snow Again absorbs and entertains. Utgoff plays Zhenia, a man from Chernobyl who acts as a masseur for a variety of inhabitants in an upper-class gated community in Poland. The houses are seemingly identical, patrolled by security men on Segways, but inside rages a wealth of unhappy occupants, each needing Zhenia’s magic touch and hypnosis skills. Some are living with terminal illnesses while others are lonely, haunted by warfare, sexually frustrated or want him to massage their dogs.
Infused with melancholy and rich in metaphor, this is lyrical and haunting, ending with the doom-laden theory that – due to the climate crisis – snow may never fall again after 2025. Superbly acted and brilliantly shot, Never Gonna Snow Again defies easy description but gains dramatic weight as it proceeds. Zhenia, the survivor of a manmade nuclear accident where he thought fallout was snow, gives aid and tries to fix those who are dying, literally or figuratively.
The connection between Utgoff and his clients, Maja Ostaszewska’s Maria and Weronika Rosati’s Wika in particular, is nuanced and complicated throughout Never Gonna Snow Again, as the masseur tries in his guru-like role to ease their pain. Connection is so sadly lacking elsewhere in these characters’ lives, it becomes of growing importance – this dysfunctional community all crave his touch. Surreal images abound amidst the model village of white box-like houses, breaking out into dark shady forests where desires and needs can be felt. The radioactive fallout covers all by the film’s climax, as hope, however bleak, remains.
Dir: Malgorzata Szumowska/Michael Englert (15, 115 mins)
Released on DVD/Blu-ray on Mon 31 Jan
words KEIRON SELF