"Butterfly Vision" is the stunning feature debut film by Ukrainian director Maksym Nakonechnyi, who cowrote the film with Iryna Tsilyk. It is screening as part of the Un Certain Regard program at this year's Cannes Film Festival. This intimate drama is certainly timely as it depicts Lilia (Rita Burkovska), a soldier who works with drones, returning home after being held captive in Donbass for two months by separatists.
Lilia is scarred physically — there are marks on her body — and emotionally. She has episodes of PTSD and is skittish when her husband Tokha (Liubomyr Valivots) first tries to touch her. What is more, she is pregnant, having been raped while imprisoned. Tokha is furious and vows revenge, and Lilia opts against having an abortion. Their relationship suffers as a result, but Lilia finds resilience and a will to live in the face of the trauma she has endured.
