‘Sirin’: Caught Between the Soviet Past and Her Reconstructed Life

The collapse of the Soviet Union brings painful memories for a young woman in the former Yugoslavia.

Nathalie (Danica Curcic) returns to Yugoslavia and remembers her past, in “Sirin.” GJW+

NR | 1h 30m | Drama | 2023

Thanks to modern communications networks and the global reach of streaming platforms, audiences today have unprecedented access to international cinema. A standout is “Sirin,” a Montenegrin production directed by Senad Sahmanovic.

Echoes of War

The film opens with one of the more quietly chilling sequences in recent memory. It’s the early 1990s, and Yugoslavia is unraveling in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. On a train that has stopped in the fractured countryside, a group of armed paramilitary men begin checking the IDs of male passengers. Some are left alone; others are dragged off at gunpoint.