Synopsis
In the near future, UN-based writer Victor goes in search of his daughter in Tashlinsk, an isolated town subject to extreme climate change. Rampant virus put the town under control of mutants called ‘ugly swans.’ Their education transformed children into abnormal ‘super geniuses’ rejecting corrupted human society and listing all sorts of philosophical questions and sophistry. Victor barely manages to rescue these children, but … The film is based on the novel with the same title by Russian SF writers, STRUGATSKY brothers. The novel’s original political agenda is substituted here with a more contemporary issue of environmental hazard by LOPUSHANSKY. Surprisingly enough, the movie runs 105 minutes effectively delivering the fearful ‘ugly swans’ without CG effects. (LEE Hwa Jung)