I'd say this entire movie is built on the question of faith. And then how you percept the storyline. There is a disfunctional family of wanna-be musician Oleg and his wife Marina, who is a real eastate dealer and dress maker at once, who has been mostly earning them a living. There is a 16 year old daughter Kristina who is challenging, provoking and bad-hair looking late teen. There arrives Oleg's mother, who has spent last 20 years as a truly deep Orthodox believer and she hopes her arrival (or intrusion) would help this family gets itself together... What follows is tragedy that makes everybody question their faith and of course it touches the question if the Church can make business on trade and their rituals and how come it all makes sense with an African tribe mask?
This is a sample of new Russian cinema that does not lead the viewer to answers, but to more questions. Noone of its characters are likeable, but true to life. IMHO it lacks deep drama and the actress playing the daughter is mediocre, but watch for yourself!d
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