On the samurai's path there are many trials, and watching the film 'Right to Left' is one of the most difficult.

Starting with a silly pun in the title ('Right to Left' — a triumph of authorial wit, no less) and ending with the utterly incoherent cramming of Japanese culture elements into the plot, the film by Garik Petrosyan (no jokes about the surname) tests the viewer's endurance. If that was the creators' intention, they succeeded. If not, there will be no words of consolation in this text.

At the center of 'Right to Left' is a successful lawyer and exemplary family man Ivan (familiar to many from 'Trigger' Roman Mayakin). He even jokes in court that he is among the 20% of men who do not cheat on their wives. But Ivan, or as he is called here 'Ivanushka' (don't ask), faces a dilemma (yes, a pun in the authors' style, you got it right): should he sleep with his assistant, who is also his wife's best friend?

This is where the chaotic plot of the film begins, in whose kaleidoscope we find a Cossack with absurdly glued-on mustaches, a talentless lawyer who loses a case without preparation, a Japanophile security guard stereotypically obsessed with anime (through whom Japanese melodies and phrases about samurai are introduced), a philosophizing old man on a bus played by the legendary Sergei Shakurov, a girl who loves to 'execute' Ken dolls, a cheating pianist, Elena Borshchova, an introvert sexologist. And so on and so forth.

Unsurprisingly, with such a set of premises, Garik Petrosyan's film turned out more like a collection of sketches loosely glued together (okay, even the mustache of Vladimir Sychev's character, despite all the 'buts', is glued together more coherently). The situation could have been somewhat salvaged by humor. But for every successful gag (there are about 5 in the film), there is a mangling of the main character's surname. Imagine, the surname Konnikov, according to the authors, is a basis for humor, a whole object of mockery and mispronunciation. For example, it can be pronounced as 'Konyatina'. As the author of one of the year's main hits said, 'What questions?'

The film reeks of infantilism from every corner. Hence these 'Vanechkas', 'Ivanushkas', 'Alenkas' (it seems the authors have never heard how 30-year-olds talk) combined with behavior inappropriate for adults. For example, an anecdotal situation: one of the heroines sleeps with a clueless colleague just because he said he would become the CEO!

The color grading and musical accompaniment in 'Right to Left' somehow resemble not a feature film but a wedding video. And it's understandable, because there's a grandfather and father fighting, clumsy dances of the groom, children singing backup... It's not up to professional films here. And yet, somewhere in this same world, people have already learned to shoot visually stunning and atmospheric films on an iPhone.

Despite all the local bushido on offer, there are practically no questions for the actors. They do their best, act where there is nothing to act, and try to find at least some character traits to latch onto. And Roman Mayakin, with his charisma, smooths over the nonsense happening on screen.

No, there is one question for the actors: 'Why did you participate in this?' However, even film industry representatives probably have the 'right' to their 'left' in the form of acting in such films, which cannot be recommended to anyone, for anything, ever (you can sing this, it's in the spirit of the film).

Trailer: