Father and Son

The film opens with Aleksei waking from a nightmare that unsettles him deeply. Father appears and steadies him with quiet, comforting presence, offering safety in the face of fear. This opening establishes the circular structure, where the Father’s protective role recurs at the end.

The Father is presented as Aleksei’s guardian angel, a figure who seems to return from death to protect his son. The imagery references Rembrandt’s Jacob Wrestling with the Angel to elevate their bond to a spiritual plane. The motif foreshadows the fusion of love, danger, and duty that underpins their relationship.

Over the weekend, the linear events of Aleksei and Father’s life play out within the larger circular frame. They move through the seaside city, sharing intimate moments that reveal their mutual closeness despite different life experiences. A rift begins to form as unspoken tensions gather beneath the surface.

On the first day, Aleksei and Father meet Sasha, a peer his own age whose father is absent. The encounter highlights how fatherlessness shapes identity and vulnerability in young men. Father’s protective presence remains evident even as new emotional complexities arise.

Later that day, they encounter Fyodor, another young man dealing with a fatherless background. The meeting expands the film’s meditation on male mentorship and emotional need. Father continues to anchor the duo with closeness that hints at both care and boundary.

Aleksei’s unnamed girlfriend breaks up with him, a blow that tests his readiness to take responsibility. The breakup strains the already delicate balance between him and Father, sharpening their unspoken tensions. The event intensifies the film’s inquiry into what it means to grow up under someone’s watch.

Aleksei resists stepping into fatherhood, resisting the responsibilities Father anticipates him to assume. The resistance becomes a fault line that exposes the gap between the Father’s protective instinct and the son’s need for autonomy. The tension foreshadows the emotional distance widening between them.

The rift between Father and Son deepens, and Aleksei’s nightmares become more vivid and frequent. The nightmares assemble the weekend into a single, symbolic sequence of care, conflict, and attempted rescue. The dream logic mirrors Aleksei’s fear of losing his Father’s love.

In Aleksei’s dream, the Saturday-Sunday sequence of events plays out again as a continuous loop. Father’s unlimited love appears as a constant, even as Aleksei questions his own worth and the worth of their bond. The dream deepens the film’s central meditation on love, guilt, and accountability.

During the nightmare, Father again brings comfort to Aleksei, underscoring his role as guardian even in the dream. This act reinforces the intensity and fragility of their closeness. The moment crystallizes the thematic core: love that endures even when understanding falters.

The closing sequence returns to the rooftop, with Father retiring to wait for Aleksei’s next cry for help. Their bond remains the moral center of the film, a quiet vow rather than a resolution. The rooftop vigil signals patience, tenderness, and the possibility of future reconciliation.

Across its final frames, the film casts the relationship as a Parable of the Prodigal Son, blending forgiveness with longing and lingering regret. Father’s return and protection echo the older myth, refracted through a contemporary father–son dynamic. The allegory gives structure to the two-day arc and its emotional resonance.

The concluding imagery reinforces Father as a guardian angel, a figure who watches over Aleksei with quiet, enduring care. The Rembrandt-inspired framing cements the idea of rescue as sacred, not romantic, in the father–son relationship. The film ends with Father on the rooftop awaiting Aleksei’s next cry.