Directed by Anna Brenner, The Karamazovs is a bold and moody reimagining of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Told through the fragmented recollections of a weathered caretaker, Brenner delivers familial dysfunction with a biting chill and a philosophical twist.
Our tale opens during a winter week at the oceanfront home of Fyodor Karamazov (voiced by Ezriel Kornel), a bitter and abusive patriarch who is living out his final days. His caretaker, Liz (Rami Margron), has endured years of mistreatment in favor of living in nature. On this day, all three of Fyodor’s children gather at his house—scheming Dmitri (Ross Cowan), activist filmmaker Viv (MK Tuomanen), and religious Aly (Rachael Richman). They are here because Dmitri and Fyodor got into a fight. Dmitri is desperate for money, convinced he’s owed what remains of their late mother’s inheritance. He soon begins manipulating his sisters, hoping they can convince Fyodor to give them the money.
As tensions rise, old wounds are reopened. Dmitri uses charm, but mainly emotional pressure, to win over his sisters. Soon, old wounds are opened. Aly, preparing to become a nun, seeks peace but feels emotionally fragile and pushed aside by her domineering father and brother. Viv, disillusioned with her former political movement and trapped by her lingering attachment to Katya, Dmitri’s ex-girlfriend, wants nothing more than to escape the chaos. Her only solace is Katya, whom she fears still loves Dmitri.
Fyodor taunts and belittles his children, particularly Dmitri, refusing him a cent and stoking an already volatile situation. The family’s emotional collapse accelerates when Fyodor is suddenly found murdered. With the patriarch dead, suspicions flare and past grievances come to a head.
“The family’s emotional collapse accelerates when Fyodor is suddenly found murdered.”
The Karamazovs is a unique retelling of Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov. It is different in that it is set in modern times, in the United States, and two of the brothers are now sisters. Like the original novel, the story deals with philosophy, murder, and primarily a family drama.
The film is deliberately fragmented in structure, giving actor Rami Margron as Liz the power of the unreliable narrator. At the start, the story is told in fragments and done intentionally to create chaos in the audience’s mind. As the story settles in, we are given glimpses into each child’s personality and motivations. Of course, Dmitri wants money, but Viv and Aly Viv and Aly are sisters who are exact opposites in both politics and world views. Viv wants to tear down authority with revolution, while the soon-to-be nun Aly sees the only answer is love. Ultimately, The Karamazovs is a story of reckoning, as a broken family tries to piece together what is left of their shared past and uncertain future.
Director Anna Brenner shoots The Karamazovs, focusing on the actors’ performances. The story is not just told through dialogue but also with close-ups of their faces. We see more of how they feel, with the words they speak being veiled attempts at saying, “Everything’s fine.” One might mistake the film for an art film, but to me, it’s much more of a psychological drama with a heaping amount of pathos.
In The Karamazovs, Anna Brenner crafts a haunting family reckoning that’s less about solving a murder and more about surviving the memories that refuse to die. Let’s just say, this is one inheritance you’ll want to unpack with a therapist.
"…one inheritance you'll want to unpack with a therapist."
