CHARACTERS
EWA
A celebrated 38-year-old fashion photographer. Although she creates shoots for well-known brands and prestigious magazines, she is exhausted by this artificial world. In her darkroom she develops entirely different work: analogue portraits suspended between one moment and the next. She is a master of control, in both her private and professional life. She seduces, steals and never apologises.
Behind this mask lies a trauma she cannot overcome. Ewa's younger sister Maria was raped and murdered while Ewa was still a teenager. Ewa carries the guilt of not preventing the tragedy. Maria's ghost follows her like a shadow. At art school, Ewa tried to make her diploma project by staging scenes at crime locations, but the loss was still too painful. Twenty years later, she returns to the project on different terms, determined to close this chapter.
NATASZA
A 21-year-old Ukrainian woman who fled Mariupol for Warsaw after Russian forces murdered her parents. At first she relied on NGO support and now survives on odd jobs. She lives in a cramped flat shared with several people. There is nowhere for her to return: her city remains in Russian hands.
Despite the anger and hatred she carries towards Russians, Natasza is sensitive and delicate. She walks with an analogue camera and photographs everything that catches her attention. It is this camera that first attracts Ewa. Natasza bears a striking physical resemblance to Ewa's dead sister, making her a living symbol of the photographer's past. Natasza initially refuses the project twice because she fled violence. During the journey, she discovers an instinct for art and begins staging her own photographs.
Natasza initially refuses the project twice because she fled violence and does not want to return to it. She agrees only after Ewa offers her money for the work. During the journey, Natasza discovers an instinct for art and begins staging her own photographs, bringing an entirely new perspective to the project. Her relationship with Ewa lets her explore her sexuality and experience intimacy with a woman for the first time. Despite longing for closeness, she remains cautious.
PAWEŁ
A 48-year-old homicide detective and Ewa's former husband. He led the case of Maria, his former wife's sister, who was murdered twenty years ago, and never solved it. The case is the burden that both connected and separated them. Paweł loved Ewa and believes that if he had caught the killer they would still be together. When he learns she stole classified files from his computer, he sets out after Ewa and Natasza to save his career.
HANS
A celebrated 52-year-old art curator from Berlin. He is opening his third gallery, where he wants to show bold photography. His assistant urges him to give Ewa a chance to exhibit at the opening. Hans has succeeded because he can bridge the worlds of artists and collectors. He is highly business-minded, demanding and critical: he recognises authenticity immediately and requires it without mercy.
JAN
A 68-year-old professor of photography at the Academy of Fine Arts. Throughout Ewa's studies, he recognised her exceptional talent and supported her. He knew about her loss and encouraged her to tame it through art, transforming pain into creative work. Jan has remained close to Ewa. After many years, he encourages her to return to the project she could not complete at art school.
ANDREJ
A 29-year-old Russian-speaking nationalist. He supports Putin's aggression in Ukraine and dreams of restoring imperial Russia. Recruited by a secret far-right group funded by the GRU, he is about to carry out a second act of sabotage in Poland: blowing up railway tracks carrying humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. He is not a professional agent, only an amateur with ambitions. He is drawn to Natasza and wants to possess her at any cost.
MARIA
Ewa's murdered younger sister. She was raped and killed at seventeen in the family summer house, a secret place for teenage parties that she shared with Ewa. Her killer was never found. In the film, Maria returns as a ghost, not as a threat but as a presence. She is not a memory: she is longing, guilt and love at once. Natasza bears a striking resemblance to her.
