My Joy

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

66%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 978

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My Joy Photos

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Movie Info

A truck driver takes a wrong turn and finds himself lost in a bleak Russian underworld, struggling to survive amidst increasingly violent reminders of the country's dark history. The first fiction film by acclaimed documentarian Sergei Loznitsa, My Joy is a mischievous, ultra-nihilistic parable of post-Communist Russia, shot by master cinematographer Oleg Muto (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). -- (C) Kino

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Sergey Loznitsa
Written By:

Sergey Loznitsa
In Theaters:

Sep 30, 2011 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Mar 13, 2012
Box Office:

$3,756
Runtime:

127 minutes
Studio:

Kino Lorber

Cast

Viktor Nemets
as Georgy

Vladimir Golovin

Olga Shuvalova

Maria Varsami
as La jeune prostituée

Vlad Ivanov
as Major

Alexey Vertkov

Yuriy Sviridenko

View All

News & Interviews for My Joy

Critics Consensus: 50/50 is Certified Fresh

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Critic Reviews for My Joy

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (2)

The movie contains a mesmerizing visual appeal.

November 12, 2013 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Eric Kohn
indieWire
Top Critic
Although discomfiting to audiences desiring a steady narrative thread (and less accessible to those unfamiliar with Eastern European history and culture), it sustains interest throughout as a devastating critique of Russian society.

November 12, 2013 | Full Review…

Alissa Simon
Variety
Top Critic
There are hints of Tarkovsky in the poetic exploration of place and memory and the film is a demanding, difficult work. But the sense of a Dantean journey and a vision of utter hell are powerfully conveyed.

November 12, 2013 | Full Review…

Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic
For long stretches, it appears to be a road movie headed nowhere. Still, the detours it uncovers are fascinating.

January 19, 2012 | Rating: 3/4

John Hartl
Seattle Times
Top Critic
[Has] a bleak, grotesque, near-perfect poetry in its soul.

October 1, 2011 | Full Review…

Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic
The world of "My Joy" is grim, though the experience of watching it and piecing together its fragmented story strands is anything but.

September 29, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic
Necessarily bleak, My Joy shows [Russia] caught in the kind of circuitous violence that ultimately corrupts man.

October 30, 2019 | Full Review…

Tanner Tafelski
Vague Visages
..."My Joy"'s striking structure is directly inspired by a strange record of anecdotes that disturb the story of a young truck driver's route through the Russian countryside.

November 16, 2017 | Full Review…

Daniel Kasman
MUBI
It's a journey that takes us through unexpected, often harrowing twist and turns, unafraid to leave us perplexed, confused, or even frustrated.

October 5, 2011 | Rating: A- | Full Review…

Landon Palmer
Film School Rejects
Disjointed, wild, but often powerful look at Russian proletariats.

September 30, 2011 | Full Review…

Eric Monder
Film Journal International
a lively work of howling wickedness

September 29, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com
If the desire is to unsettle and disorientate, the movie succeeds, but it does so at the expense of pretty much all else.

July 14, 2011 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Mayer Nissim
Digital Spy

View All Critic Reviews (20)

Audience Reviews for My Joy

May 07, 2013

In "My Joy," Georgy(Viktor Nemets), a truck driver, is minding his business on a normal haul when he picks up an old man(Vladimir Golovin) as a hitchhiker who regales him with tales of the troubles he had getting home at the end of the Great Patriotic War. When Georgy futilely attempts to get diesel at a gas station, the old man simply walks off. Later, Georgy gets stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident where a prostitute(Olga Shuvalova) who claims she is 18 tries to drum up some business. Okay, so far, not so bad, with the movie serving as an allegorical rumination on all that has not changed from the old Soviet Union to the new Russia, starting with random identity checks because nobody is really sure who anybody is anymore. Along these same lines, at a scene where the characters are talking about a war, it took me a minute to realize which war. But while it is okay to play with reality a little, here it goes too far which causes the movie to lose the narrative completely, making it almost impossible to follow for a good deal of its second half, which is an accomplishment for me, and not even remotely in a good way.

Walter M Super Reviewer
Mar 29, 2012

A melange of scenes, drifting back and forth between post-WWII and the present day (often without warning), featuring crooked cops, child prostitutes and thieves. The stories all document corruption in Russia and Ukraine and argues that it's deep-seeded in the national character; unfortunately, most of them wind up as inconclusive misfires, and the fatalistic sameness of each episode quickly grows wearying and---yeah, I'll say it---a little boring. May require two viewings to figure out what's going on here.

Greg S Super Reviewer
Sep 14, 2010

The film possesses you, haunts you, and ensnares you.

Robert F Super Reviewer