Directed by: Philipp Yuryev
Written by: Philipp Yuryev
Starring: Vladimir Onokhov, Vladimir Lyubimtsev and Kristina Asmus
Not Rated
Run time: 93 min.
In select theaters and digital January 14

by Stacey Osbeck, Staff Writer

Across the Bering Strait on the Russian tundra, The Whaler Boy follows Leshka (Vladimir Onokhov), a teenager in a remote Inuit village. Most days a bleak white gray overcasts the sky. Working with the whaling crew and hanging with his best friend, Kolyan (Vladimir Lyubimtsev), constitutes the extent his of his small world.

On whaling expeditions, groups of men set out in motor boats, hunting as a team. Sounds of the venture stay with Leshka throughout the film. The velocity of the boats cutting through water, the low hum of motors, wind rushing past, never quite leaves him. The men clean their catch on the shoreline, letting the red spill into the water. At one point Leshka and Kolyan play in the sea where discarded whale intestines, enormously long and oversized, tumble in the surf. The moment, though underplayed, still holds a dreamlike quality.

With the conservative traditions of the village Leshka finds few ways to meet girls his own age. He lives with his grandfather, no mother, sister or grandmother. Although he feels it acutely in his love life, on many levels Leshka is starved for feminine attention.

At one point the two teens hop on a motorbike to meet up with a girl. They head out to the nearest village, which on the open tundra isn’t close. Without reaching their destination the ride breaks down. The rest of the trip is them walking a dead bike back to their own village before nightfall. In this remote part of the world no one crosses their path. No friendly stranger in a pickup pulls over to throw their bike in the back and give them a lift. Sitting together on the side of the road Kolyan admits that the girl they were going to see, he made her up. This scene sums up their reality. The only girl they can hang out with is a made up girl. And no one will happen upon them which is off putting in the moment with nobody to help them get home. But sadder still in terms of hope for young love: here there are no chance encounters.

When Kolyan shares a sex webcam site, Leshka becomes infatuated with Holly Sweet 999 (Kristina Asmus). While other girls there bare all she keeps her top on and plays coy with the camera.

I was reminded while watching that at his age I was flipping through magazines with photos of heartthrobs. But for boys, then and probably even now, there aren’t teenybopper rags filled with pictures of girls. It may not translate well in the other direction. Publications splashed with young girls could quickly take on a creeper cheesecake air if adult men started buying them. So instead of having a gradation of age appropriate ways to check out the opposite sex, Leshka’s options are nothing or erotic web cam chats. He’s not clear if she can hear or see him and it’s admirable the lengths he goes to to win over her affections. He gets a kid’s book that’s like a speak and spell where you touch a wand and it says phrases like ‘you are beautiful’ in electronic English. With his grandfather’s blazer, he dresses up for her.

Holly Sweet 999 lives in Detroit, which is America. America is actually just across the Bering Strait so if he could steal a boat and zip past border patrol he could get to Alaska and meet her. Or so he envisions.

Philipp Yuryev took a reserved tack in bringing this atmospheric story to life. Vladimir Onokhov is a natural, giving a flawless performance of grappling with youth and quiet longing. The Whaler Boy can be seen in select theaters and virtual cinemas January 14th.