Petrov’s Flu takes you on a fever dream journey through a hellish urban landscape in post-Soviet Union Russia. From the start there’s an assault on the senses and it takes you a while to figure out what exactly is going on. The overhanging question is if what you see is really happening or in the imagination of Petrov (Serzin), a sick, persistently coughing comic-book illustrator. Petrov may or may not be helping to gun down the elite, have a serial killer wife (Khamatova), or be on a drinking binge with his mysterious friend Igor (Kolokolnikov) in a hearse. Think of it like a Russian Holy Motors and try to enjoy the ride, one long take at a time.

The film, at two and a half hours, may seem too long, but it is filled with enough randomness and surrealism to make it interesting. There is something of a plot in here too, as the film begins to settle after the chaotic opening, revealing that the characters are all connected somehow. There’s commentary on society, politics, the Soviet Union, nostalgia, immigration, art and literature. Perhaps it all makes more sense in The Petrovs In and Around The Flu, the Alexey Salnikov book that Serebrennikov has adapted this from. Within the chaos, Yurchak’s idea of Hypernormalisation comes to mind; and thus a pretense of a functioning society is presented, a façade of reality that the viewer (and protagonist?) constantly questions but has to experience nonetheless. Original, unique, frantic and delirious – it’ll definitely stick in the mind for a while.

PETROV’S FLU is released in selected UK cinemas on February 11th