In 2000 Meters to Andriivka, we are thrown headfirst into war. From a first-person point of view, we live with a brigade of Ukrainian soldiers as they make their way to liberate the village of Andriivka, which is occupied by the Russians. As the Ukrainians trudge through the forest (they have to avoid the mine-filled roads) they take heavy fire from the opposition. The village is just over a mile away, a strategic power point in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Directed by Mstyslav Chernov following 2023’s Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, he and fellow journalist colleague Alex Babenko embed with these men as they trek towards the village. Between movements, they rest in bunkers as explosions go off around them. Every once in a while, white text on a black screen reveals how many meters they are from Andriivka. The closer they get, the more harrowing it becomes. But it’s a desolate hellscape from the very beginning. “There is nothing left over there. Literally nothing,” one responds, in reference to Andriivka. Chernov asks: “So what are we fighting for?” “To rebuild it,” he says with some measure of hope. The optimism is as shocking as anything else in the picture. One cannot imagine the resilience.
Conversations like this are punctuated by brutal narration, Chernov informing us who among the brigade has since died and how and where. There are battlefield deaths captured in-camera here. It’s worth a warning for those that watch––some images in 2000 Meters to Andriivka you will not soon forget. There is a stunning shot of a soldier absorbing shell shock in real time, and an extended scene near the climax in which the men discover a cat survived among the rubble that once was Andriivka. The majority of the film takes place via the soldiers’ helmet camera footage, a first-person aesthetic synonymous with videogames that feels disturbing in both realism and relatability. It will be a familiar POV for most who watch the film, only what’s in 2000 Meters to Andriivka is real, not imagined.
There is a foreboding score that underlines much of the film, begging the question: is it needed? Composer Sam Slater does good work, but it’s hard not to question if the music hurts more than it helps. Do we need the extra emotional push in this case? So much is communicated from the footage alone that the score can suggest too much of a good thing. Alongside some unforgettable sequences, the tone is hard to shake. What we’re shown happened in 2023, during Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive. What’s followed in 2024 has had the opposite result. Russia’s counter to the counteroffensive has led to much Ukrainian land being taken back over by the enemy. With no end in sight and a pronounced lack of interest by the international media, Chernov’s narration underlines a pervading lack of hope. It’s something of a paradox––the existence of 2000 Meters to Andriivka is itself a statement of hope. Ukraine fights on, resilient as ever.
2000 Meters to Andriivka premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.