Luna Park

Set in a tense, post-perestroika Moscow, Luna Park follows a young man named Andrei Leonov as he struggles to figure out who he really is. He begins life within a violent skinhead group known as “The Cleaners,” a faction that believes Russia must be purged of those they deem unfit—Jews, homosexuals, foreigners, and people with mental challenges. The group roams the city from their base at Luna Park, an eerie amusement park filled with wild roller coasters and distorting mirrors, and they regularly venture into the streets to spark chaos and destruction, driven by a harsh, xenophobic code.

Andrei grows up revering a father he believes was a Soviet war hero who died in Afghanistan, shaping his sense of pride and identity. This admiration drives him to imitate the persona of a strong Russian ideal. His worldview begins to crack when, during a drunken night of confessions, he learns a staggering truth: his father is not the fallen hero he imagined, but a Jewish musician who is still alive in Moscow. The revelation unsettles Andrei on multiple levels—partly because of the revelation of his heritage, and partly because he longs to know and be with the man who sired him. The shocking discovery propels him to reassess not only his lineage but also the path he has chosen for himself.

His mother, Alyona, adds further pressure to the conflict. She pushes Andrei toward a brutal, personal decision—to kill his father for the pain she endured when he seduced her and thwarted her own career as a singer. Her demand intensifies the drama, forcing Andrei to confront the consequences of the life he has been raised to defend and the family wounds that shaped him.

As the story unfolds, Andrei meets his father, Naoum Kheifitz, a once-influential Jewish composer and conductor who now makes a living entertaining private parties. The encounter reveals a different kind of charm and humanity in Naoum: a gentle, witty figure who offers Andrei a glimpse of a world beyond the harsh rhetoric of The Cleaners. This meeting plants seeds of change in Andrei, who begins to question the antisemitic beliefs he has internalized. Naoum’s warmth and artistry challenge Andrei to see beauty and talent in Jewish culture, softening some of the hatred that defined his youth.

But the transformation does not come easily. Andrei tries to relay what he is learning to the others in his gang, hoping to soften their stance, but they resist. The tension erupts when the gang ransacks Naoum’s apartment, demands control, and even drags a young woman from the place into danger. They abduct Naoum and haul him back to Luna Park, compounding Andrei’s horror at the consequences of his changing loyalties and the violence that surrounds them.

In a climactic moment, Andrei returns to the apartment, horrified by what the gang has done and determined to protect his father. He races to the park to rescue Naoum as a deadly fire erupts, threatening everyone inside Luna Park. In the chaos, Alyona chooses to perish with the park rather than face the collapse of her son’s world and the truth about his lineage.

The film closes on a note of tentative refuge. Andrei and Naoum decide to leave Moscow behind, boarding a train bound for Siberia in the hope of starting anew, away from the pull of the gang and the city’s painful past. The journey hints at the possibility of reconciliation and a future where personal identity can be rebuilt beyond the shadows of inherited hatred.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 09:35