The mother of a martyred Russian border guard, Yevgeny Rodionov, fights relentlessly to keep his memory alive with the help of Orthodox priests, biker gangs, and the Russian army. After his 1996 capture by Chechen rebels when he was 19 years old, Yevgeny was executed because he would not renounce his faith and convert to Islam. Will the Russian Orthodox Church elevate him to sainthood for refusing his captors’ demand to remove the cross around his neck? Various people have a stake in the outcome, no one more than his mother, and the quest for canonization has its bizarre moments. At Yevgeny’s shrine-like grave, for example, the curious and the faithful approach his image with reverence, but only after first passing by a table laden with merchandise. The film observes both the dedication of young military cadets who are sons of dead Russian soldiers and the rowdiness of Yevgeny’s one-time companions.  NK