Early in the Georgian feature Beginning, when the central character's husband is dealing with a crisis in the religious community he leads, she confesses her own urgent predicament. "It's as if I were waiting for something to start," Yana tells him. "Or to end." The question of which of those two eventualities she's seeking, or if, for her, they're one and the same, is the slow-burning engine of this self-assured drama.
With its fixed camera and long takes, as well as its interest in matters of marriage and faith, Beginning calls to mind the films of Carlos Reygadas — who, it turns out, serves as an executive producer.
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