In the chaos of war, who holds the power when safety disappears entirely?
In short: Nataliia Vorozhbyt’s 2020 drama Bad Roads explores the fractured reality of the Donbas region. Across four interconnected stories, the film examines how authority shifts in environments where survival is uncertain. It challenges the assumption that victims remain powerless, revealing how even the most vulnerable can suddenly seize control of their circumstances.
Released in 2020, Bad Roads serves as a stark examination of life along the front lines of the conflict in Donbas. Directed by Nataliia Vorozhbyt, the film is structured as an anthology of four distinct narratives. Each story unfolds within a landscape where traditional safety is nonexistent, and the logic of daily existence has been completely dismantled by the ongoing violence. The title itself reflects the instability of the setting, where the physical path forward is as treacherous as the social order.
A central theme of the film is the fluidity of power. Vorozhbyt depicts a world where the distinction between oppressor and victim is not fixed. While the characters are trapped in a state of perpetual crisis, the film observes how individuals attempt to exert influence over one another. It suggests that in a reality where the future is entirely unpredictable, the dynamics of control are constantly renegotiated. Even those who appear most defenseless or innocent are shown to have moments where they take charge, complicating the traditional portrayal of wartime suffering.
The film received significant critical attention following its world premiere at the 35th Venice International Critics' Week on September 3, 2020. Its reception has been largely positive, holding a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews, with an average score of 7.6 out of 10. Metacritic provided a weighted average of 66 out of 100, reflecting generally favorable critical sentiment. Beyond its festival success, the film gained international recognition when it was chosen to represent Ukraine in the competition for the Best International Feature Film category at the 94th Academy Awards in 2021.
By focusing on these fragmented, intense encounters, the film forces viewers to confront the psychological toll of living in a zone of permanent instability. It avoids simple moral binaries, instead opting to show the raw, often uncomfortable ways that human beings adapt when the structures of society have collapsed. It remains a significant piece of contemporary Ukrainian cinema, capturing a specific, harrowing moment in history through a lens that prioritizes the complexity of human behavior over clear-cut heroism.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Bad Roads
- Also: Wikidata — Bad Roads · CC0
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