Director, Lado Kvataniya’s The Execution is an intensely dark ride with the backdrop of the forced weakening of the Soviet Union. The film takes place from 1986 to 1991 and follows the hunt for a serial killer by a desperate Chief detective. The film actually has roots in true crime too. It is loosely based on a ten year manhunt for the most prolific Soviet serial killer.
Kvataniya’s film impressively lands somewhere between Zodiac and Silence of the Lambs. It also somehow ups both the ante in violence and bleakness from those films giving this one a much harder edge. Chief Issa Valentinovich is a investigator with an all-star history of tracking down dangerous serial killers his latest case however, sends him down a dark and desperate road.
The film opens with a young woman being savagely attacked. She manages to escape the clutches of her would be killer and is able to tip off Issa as to where the killer’s location might be located.
Once, Issa and his team arrive at the suspect’s farm house, an interrogation begins to try desperately to claw a confession out of the could be serial killer.
Kvataniya, brilliantly places small elements in the film that seem off kilter or out of place. Those small inconsistencies or mysteries aren’t immediately explored. They are just briefly shown the audience scratching our heads. There is method to that madness however, and the currency is paid in droves in the film’s later acts.
The Execution rolls from 86 to 91 time and time again to reveal more of the film’s full picture. It follows Issa from star investigator to a desperate man being pushed by his superiors to put an end to the investigation. Truth dangerously begins to take a backseat to necessity.
The pacing of the film nicely illustrates Issa’s mindstate. We are left frustratingly fumbling for clues alongside the Police Chief. It’s a constantly challenging tale of sinister crime that constantly keeps you guessing and unable to decide where to place your bets.
The multilayered and complex crime story is also splashed across the back drop of The Soviet Union’s weakening due to Mikhail Gorbachev. Issa is desperately searching for his purpose, similar to citizen’s living in the USSR at the time. The delicate social commentary plays nicely behind Issa’s decisions and search.
There isn’t a moment missed within the film’s austere landscape. Grays and blues make up the film’s unforgiving vacuum of a palette that assists us in really feeling the USSR’s energy levels at the time. While, it also places us firmly next to Issa and his case.
At the core of The Execution is a grizzly serial killer that stabs his victims, shoves dirt in their mouths and takes a keepsake. The gore and savagery of the killer’s means is brutal and easily matches the brutality of David Fincher’s work.
The real meat of The Execution is the strange and creepy cat and mouse between Issa and the brilliant chameleon actor Daniil Spivakovsky who plays the suspected serial killer. The energy between these two is constantly charged and provoking.
Niko Tavadz does brilliantly nuanced work as police chief Issa. He is able to ride a gambit of emotionality and constantly impresses with his surprising emotive turns.
The Execution fits in very well with a generation obsessed with true crime. It creates a tense and brutal atmosphere that locks you in its savagery and bleakness. It’s a minute to minute ride that keeps you guessing from brutal intro to savage finale. Both Tavadz and Spivakovsky’s cat and mouse boils the emotionality and suspense into a tightly wound thriller that is sure to please fans of Silence of the Lamb’s and Zodiac.
