Kvartal 95’s new movie outrages Ukrainians: what’s wrong with Rasha Goodbye

29 January 07:21

on March 27, Kvartal 95 will release a new film, Rasha Goodbye, which has already caused a resonance among viewers and critics. The authors call it “a kind of vaccination against the Russian world.” The teaser was posted on Instagram by Kvartal 95, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

The film is directed by Alexey Kiryushchenko, who has filmed series in Russia, including My Beautiful Nanny.

The plot of the movie

The film’s protagonist is a pro-Russian TV presenter who has been engaged in propaganda in the occupied territories for years. However, the war forces her to seek salvation, and she unexpectedly finds herself in Uzhhorod, where reality turns her worldview upside down.

According to the authors, the film demonstrates the transformation of a person who has lived under occupation for 10 years, who has become a victim of propaganda and at the same time an active propagandist.

“This is the story of a Ukrainian woman who has been living under occupation for 10 years, where she was not only completely brainwashed, but also became a preacher of sick ideas and fakes about Ukraine. Fate also has a sense of humor, so one day the heroine accidentally finds herself in western Ukraine and faces a reality that radically changes her life. How will her fate unfold and will she be able to challenge everything she believed to be true?” the film’s description reads.

The premiere in Ukrainian cinemas is scheduled for March 27, 2025.

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Key names in the movie

The film was directed by Oleksiy Kiryushchenko, who is well known for the TV series Servant of the People and as one of the most scandalous figures in the Ukrainian film industry. Kiryushchenko reportedly had Russian citizenship, although he is active in Ukraine, including in government projects.

After the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Kiryushchenko allegedly renounced his Russian citizenship and obtained Ukrainian citizenship. He also became a co-owner of companies involved in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The following actors starred in the movie:

  • Kateryna Varchenko,
  • Andriy Isayenko,
  • Anna Butkevich,
  • Alexey Nagrudny,
  • Vitaly Ivanchenko,
  • Slava Krasovska,
  • Artem Miaus.

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Particular attention was drawn to the participation of Anna Butkevich, daughter of Gennadiy Butkevich, co-owner of ATB supermarkets. Her acting career has been mixed, but she regularly appears in Ukrainian films, which provides additional financial support for the films.

The film is distributed by Kinomania Film Distribution, with 1 1 Media as a media partner.

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Scandals and criticism

The film has already become a cause for numerous discussions. In particular, Ukrainians are paying attention to several things:

  1. The language of themovie. In the trailer, the characters mostly speak Russian, which caused a negative reaction. The film will be dubbed into Ukrainian in theaters, but the question of whether it is appropriate to use Russian remains open.
  2. Moral message. Some observers believe that the studio’s attempts to create a “vaccination against the Russian world” look hypocritical, having previously cooperated with Russia. Viewers pointed out that the film seems to be “woven” from outdated “fables” about the division of the East and West of Ukraine.
  3. Ideology. Some viewers expressed fears that the satire might not be sharp enough, and the protagonist might be too “justified”.

“Clowns. Once again, you divide Ukrainians into sorts, harass your own population, ignore all the horror that is happening in the temporarily occupied territories. Inferiority: of course, who else but the RDC will liberate Ukrainian territories, the Armed Forces are nothing. How many more jokes like “Sisko’s” will there be? What kind of vacuum do you have to live in to write, film and act in this creation? Again, you will write it off as us misunderstanding your brilliant jokes,” they wrote in the comments under the film’s teaser.

The Ukrainians also noted that the movie, judging by the trailer, completely ignores the horrors that are happening in the temporarily occupied territories, focusing instead on the comedic context.

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“As a resident of Horlivka, I would like to wish the authors of this slag to lose everything and then go to a comedy show to see how funny it is,” says a resident of Horlivka.

“Another slag from Kvartal,” “I’m sorry, but are you adequate to Kvartal 95? Is this playing along with a purely pro-Russian narrative, with which our state has done nothing in terms of information in relation to “no pazvali Putin” or what?” Ukrainians criticize.

It should be noted that in January 2024, Studio Kvartal 95 got into a scandal because of a New Year’s Eve show about an IDP from Skadovsk who is learning to speak Ukrainian.

Back then, the team was criticized for trying to play up the language mistakes made by Ukrainians who had recently switched to Ukrainian in everyday communication through low-grade jokes, and even exploiting the image of a person who had to leave the occupied part of Ukraine.

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Остафійчук Ярослав
Editor