Film Review: YAK TAM KATIA?: Powerful Dramatic Film from Ukraine is Well Acted Though Emotionally Devastating [Locarno 2022]

Yak Tam Katia? Review

Yak Tam Katia? (2022) Film Review from the 75th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Christina Tynkevych, written by Serhil Kastornykh and Christina Tynkevych and starring Anastasiya Karpenko, Kateryna Kozlova, Iryna Verenych-Ostrovska, Viktor Zhdanov, Yelena Khokhlatkina, Aleksey Cherevatenko and Olena Rechych.

Yak Tam Katia? (How is Katia?) is an amazingly acted yet emotionally devastating film. It is a movie  that comes from the Ukraine which demands attention for its harrowing but powerful portrayal of a woman who works so hard to achieve happiness and loses everything a little bit at a time. It’s one of the most important movies of the year and will affect viewers deeply as it unveils its plot threads gradually until we see just how the central character’s life has fallen apart right before our eyes.

Anna is the central character in the movie. She is played with extreme sensitivity by a wonderful actress named Anastasiya Karpenko in a performance that will tear your heart out. Anna is middle aged and a single mother living in Kyiv with a young daughter named Katia (well played by Kateryna Kozlova). Anna is dealing with taking care of her mother and is usually helped out by her sister. While Anna is a paramedic, she struggles to make ends meet and is paying off an apartment which is adequate but Anna dreams of more for her daughter.

The opening scenes in the film establish the bond between Anna and Katia and do so remarkably well. Their bond is unbreakable and their love for one another is evident in the early sequences of the picture. Soon, one seemingly uneventful morning, Anna is taking Katia to school but Anna lets her go on her own after almost getting her there. Katia is hit by a car driven by a careless driver which puts Katia in critical condition. As the bills start piling up, the situation gets more dire and, eventually, tragedy ensues.

Anna seeks help from a key male character in the picture whose role I will not reveal. This man has already established another family and tries to deal with Anna’s request for help but it seems as if her needs are being met by deaf ears. Then, there is the matter of whether or not Anna will hold the person whose car hit Katia accountable. Can she even do that? Does she have the power? There are a lot of complexities the movie deals with from the way Anna must try to move on with her life after the horrible turn of events and, also, how she now views her life without Katia in it.

Director Christina Tynkevych has crafted an absolutely thought-provoking and intense drama here. It presents themes that have a lot of thematic substance which makes the movie unforgettable. Towards the end, as Anna must deal with a person’s death who she may have had the power of saving, Karpenko captures her character’s intensity and sorrow so perfectly that the actress will have the audience moved to tears.

Yak Tam Katia? is an unforgettable film but it’s also a solemn one that doesn’t sugar coat the harsh realities which it presents to the audience. Watching Anna as she tries to figure out a way to make everything make sense to her when it doesn’t make any sense at all is heart-wrenching. Karpenko never hits a false note here and every scene she’s in is raw and authentic. The supporting cast is all superb in their roles (Viktor Zhdanov, in particular, makes the most of his small role as a key doctor) though this is ultimately Karpenko’s movie from beginning to end. She makes her character relatable and her passion and despair are vividly real and conveyed so perfectly on screen.

While this film is excellent, keep in mind it deals with themes that are very depressing in nature but need to be addressed in the world. Tragedy strikes people who are hanging on by such a thin thread and their whole lives can be ripped out right from underneath them in a heartbeat. This film offers a glimmer of hope in the end by suggesting coping mechanisms to deal with an unthinkable tragedy. The events this film portrays are uniquely intriguing and the movie is a compelling picture which I highly recommend.

Rating: 9/10

Leave your thoughts on this Yak Tam Katia? review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more Locarno Film Festival news can visit our Locarno Film Festival Page, our Film Festival Page, and our Film Festival Facebook Page. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. 

Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, and Flipboard.