Years ago, a Ukrainian woman went to Bosnia, where she found a gangster husband, returned home to her small town, and had twin boys. Eventually he left town and she remarried, though there seemed to be a legacy of respect for the father that followed the boys.

Years later, the boys have taken very different paths. Kolya is a bus driver, drug dealer, and petty thief. Vasily is an upright, heavy-on-duty policeman who tries to look out for Kolya. Both are married with one child, and both are a disappointment to their family. Kolya receives a call from the Ukrainian consulate in Luxembourg, informing himthat their father had an accident and is dying, and the brothers (and their mother) debate whether to rush to his side. Vasily and mother worry that their father may just leave troubles and debts, while Kolya dreams of riches.

Already in trouble with the bus company for an incident caused by his short temper, Kolya gets into further trouble by knocking down a woman with his bus, impeding his plan to go to Luxembourg. The brothers eventually work something out.

From the CBC news story, this film was shot before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the director had to return to Ukraine to complete post-production. The theme of growing up with an absent father is coincidentally timely, given the diaspora of Ukrainian refugee families of women-and-children. This is the only film from Ukraine at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I suspect could be next year's Ukrainian entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar.

I'm not a movie fan and I rarely go to the cinema. But after the video about the premiere of the film Luxembourg, Luxembourg in the Ukrainian village of Blyznyuki (Twins), I decided that it must be watched. I am not disappointed, the film is excellent. It conveys the color and zeitgeist, the excellent performance of the actors, well-chosen soundtracks. More precisely, actors live, not play. It is impossible to translate jargon, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian languages, surzhik as it is called. Many beautiful scenes, funny, comic and sad moments, which are also understandable to Ukrainians.

However, I didn't like two things - when the brothers go abroad, they end up in civilization from the dark forest. Ukraine is not so wild. And I still can't come to terms with Mykola's disgusting abuse of his mother. I understand that this often happens in life. But - respect your father and mother!!! It is felt that the director had difficulties in communicating with his mother, and this is visible in the female characters in the film. But Antonio is a talented director and will surely delight us with his works. I hope.

In order to fully appreciate all the details of the picture, you need to be familiar with the everyday life of the Ukrainian province in advance. Hear the speech of local residents, know the peculiarities of their coexistence.

The film tells about two brothers who look the same but are so different in essence. The director seems to want to show two sides of the same coin: one brother works in the police, and the other is involved in illegal activities. But it's not just about that. It is about the experiences that the brothers face after learning about their father's terminal illness. On the one hand, this is a person who gave you life, and on the other hand, a person who abandoned his sons in childhood. It's a contest between rationality and humanity.

In my opinion, this is one of the best tragicomedies in the history of Ukrainian cinema. The actors have a bright sense of humor, which they convey to their characters in the picture. Basically, they are playing themselves, but under different names. I was also surprised by the cinematography with unexpected angles, transitions and playing with landscapes.

The fact that this is only the director's second full-length film is very pleasing, and the film does not look unfinished, but deserves high marks.