# ‘Demons’ Explores the Russia-Ukraine Relationship via Borscht, Blood and Graves (Exclusive Trailer)

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/demons-explores-the-russia-ukraine-relationship-via-borscht-blood-and-graves-exclusive-trailer/
- Published: 2026-08-12T10:21:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-12T11:20:50+00:00
- Original publisher: The Hollywood Reporter
- Original article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/demons-film-trailer-locarno-2026-ukraine-russia-metaphor-1236671904/
- Topics: Entertainment, Europe, Film, World

## Key points

- Demons uses a surreal romance to allegorise Russia-Ukraine relations.
- It premieres at Locarno on 13 August.
- The story moves from uneasy companionship to betrayal.

## Summary

Writer-director Natalka Vorozhbyt’s new film, Demons, will have its world premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival on 13 August. The film uses a developing relationship between a Russian drifter and a Ukrainian woman as a metaphor for Russia and Ukraine, framing political conflict through a surreal rural drama.

Slavik, a homeless Russian man with an unclear past, arrives in a remote central Ukrainian village and is taken in by Nina, an older, independent woman representing post-Soviet Ukraine. Their initially unlikely companionship turns to betrayal amid a setting where witches and the dead coexist with villagers; the trailer includes borscht, a flying vehicle, blood and graves. The cast includes Ruslana Pysanka, Aleksey Mitin, Tatiana Stepanova, Ruslan Garmash and Mykola Ponomarenko, while Celluloid Dreams is handling international sales.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.