Olha Zhurba’s two-year chronicle immerses us in Ukraine’s brutal wartime reality through extended, unmediated takes. Eschewing narration, the film vividly portrays the Russian invasion’s evolution, from the initial airstrikes and frantic evacuations to the chilling normalcy of bakers working in a bread factory or children playing games to the sounds of missile attacks. The film is punctuated by lengthy driving sequences that underscore Ukrainians’ profound sense of displacement and alienation, most notably in a devastating nine-minute scene filmed from a convoy transporting the dead that shows silent mourners lining the roadsides. Survivor testimonies, including those of children, amplify the horror. This direct, visceral document brings the unfiltered anguish of those enduring these realities to the fore, captured poignantly in one elderly woman’s tearful question, “Where do I live now?” With no end to the atrocities in sight, the film serves as a stark reminder of the human cost behind headlines, the daily suffering endured by ordinary people.  PB