Come and See – Film Review

The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya (Aleksey Kravchenko) into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family’s wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha (Olga Mironova), who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Few films are as sickening, disturbing, heart-pounding, and impactful as Elem Klimov‘s Come and See, which thrusts viewers right into the heart of the Nazi German occupation of Belarus. This is obviously an already terrifying thing to watch, but it’s made all the more terrifying when you learn that our protagonist is just a boy. To have to see so many horrific things at such a young age would be mentally scarring for life, and it’s impossible not to think about what one must have gone through in real life while watching this film.

It’s the type of film that’s so painfully realistic to the point where I had to do some Google searches just to confirm that the people in this film were indeed actors. Thankfully, they were, but that doesn’t make Come and See any less heart-shattering to watch. It’s one of the hardest movies I’ve ever had to watch in my entire life, and I’ve seen some seriously messed up films. Films that keep you awake at night. But Come and See is absolutely bone-chilling because of how real it all feels.

All of the performances here are superb and the cinematography is some of the best I have ever seen. But as gripping and enthralling as this movie was, I can’t say that I enjoyed watching it. At all. It’s one of the greatest films I have ever seen, but nothing about it entertained me. Entertainment is supposed to be fun, and Come and See isn’t supposed to be fun. This film aims to place you in Florya’s shoes, and it does a terrific job of doing so. The film holds absolutely nothing back. It forces you to watch some truly deranged things that you’ll probably wish you hadn’t seen.

Come and See is one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen, but I never, ever, want to watch it again. The imagery in the film is shockingly brutal and grotesque. The stakes feel high in every single scene, and the cries and wails from the innocents are the things that nightmares are made out of. Seriously, only watch this film if you think you can handle it. In the back of your mind, you know it’s a fictional film and those involved with it were actors, but some strange corner of your brain will also be a little bit unsure. It’s legitimately a masterpiece in every sense of the word.