When I’m reviewing a movie, I try to go in cold. I want my criticism to come as organically as possible. I don’t want other people’s opinions (or even a plot synopsis or trailer) to color my perspective. This was not the correct move for “Donbass,” the latest drama from director Sergey Loznitsa.
The film takes place in 2014, at the dawn of pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine that has snowballed into the war we see dominating front pages today. It is an incredibly specific satire that, unless you are aware of the precise ideologies of Eastern Ukraine and their weak points, may not immediately register as a satire at all.