Branded

In the early 1980s Soviet Union, Misha Galkin gazes at the night sky as a cow-shaped constellation seems to watch him. Moments later, a mysterious bolt of lightning strikes him, marking the start of his extraordinary life. A woman who examines him afterward prophesies that he will have an interesting life.

Misha uses his natural talents to rise in the world of marketing and branding. His big break comes when he meets Bob Gibbons, an American hired to spread Western brands in post-Communist Russia. The connection sets his career on a global trajectory.

Abby arrives from America and begins a romance with Misha, despite Bob's objections. They discuss the history of modern marketing, with Misha insisting Lenin invented it and that Communism was the first global brand. Their relationship deepens against the backdrop of a changing Russia.

On a private Polynesian island, marketing guru Joseph Pascal meets with fast food executives to revive profits. They plot to alter public perceptions of beauty and declare that fat is the new fabulous. The plan signals a broader cultural manipulation ahead.

Misha is hired to promote a new reality TV show, Extreme Cosmetica, where an overweight woman will undergo plastic surgery to become thin. The project provokes controversy as audiences debate body image and the ethics of the competition. A public-relations storm threatens the show's future.

After the first operation, the contestant falls into a coma and the public turns against the show and its message. Misha becomes the scapegoat, swarmed by protesters before police beat him and arrest him. The scandal destroys the project and marks a personal downfall for him.

Upon release from jail, Misha confronts Bob, accusing him of orchestrating the scheme with fast-food interests. Bob denies the accusation, and their confrontation escalates until Bob suffers a heart attack. The moment intensifies Misha's guilt and sense of responsibility.

Feeling that his marketing abilities are a curse, Misha leaves Moscow and retreats from modern life. For six years, he lives in a rural setting while the world around him continues to be shaped by advertising and consumption. The decision marks a full withdrawal from the world he once ruled.

During the six-year gap, the fat is fabulous campaign becomes pervasive, and advertising increasingly centers on overweight bodies. Society adapts to a new perception of beauty, contributing to a culture of mass consumption and brand suffocation.

Misha dreams of the Red Heifer ritual and awakens to see strange creatures that embody brand desires clinging to people's necks. These beings are visible only to him, a surreal sign of the power of marketing over everyday life. He begins to understand that his gifts carry a dark, invasive energy.

Abby tracks Misha to the rural community and brings him to her Moscow apartment, where she reveals Bob's inheritance and their six-year-old son who is overweight and loves junk food brands. Misha's volatile behavior worsens as he destroys Abby's apartment, frightening her enough to leave with their son. The reunification and its fallout set the stage for a final confrontation with branding itself.

Returning to his old company, Misha weaponizes fear to turn public opinion against the world's major brands. He triggers an anti-beef scare and elevates a vegetarian chain, Dim Song, while branding creatures clash across the city. Public sentiment shifts so dramatically that parliament contemplates banning all advertising.

Misha leaves a remorseful voicemail for Abby before a raid erupts in the advertising office, where protesters attack employees. In the chaos, Misha is struck as he tries to escape with Abby. An emergency TV broadcast declares that advertising will be banned, signaling a turning point for society.

Misha wakes in a hospital and reunites briefly with Abby and their son, a quiet coda to his journey. In the same hospital, the Extreme Cosmetica contestant awakens and wanders into a world outside, showing a Moscow skyline free of billboards and advertising. The film closes on a world where branding has been eroded, but the human cost remains.