Russian actor Sergei Bezrukov stars in "Ne po-detski," a new comedy-drama directed by Anna Matison that opened in Russian cinemas on September 3, 2026, telling the story of a cynical television host forced to make amends after mocking children who live in an orphanage. A review of the film gave it 6.5 out of 10, calling it warm and well-intentioned but too shallow given how many themes it tries to cover in just an hour and a half.
Ahead of the premiere, Bezrukov summed up the film with a single coined term, dobrofilm, blending the Russian words for kindness and film, a description the reviewer said fit the movie perfectly. The film avoids cynicism and grim moral lessons, and even though it deals with children's homes, it steers clear of dwelling on life's unfairness. Characters who behave badly are set up to reform, children who look sad are shown smiling by the end, and any tears the audience sheds are meant to come from happiness rather than sorrow.
The plot
The film centers on Mark, a star television host who recalls the cynical, brash gym teacher character Bezrukov played in the Russian sitcom "Fizruk." Mark ignores the good people around him and has long since stopped doing anything kind. His downfall comes when he lets slip disparaging remarks about children from an orphanage, triggering a scandal in which sponsors pull their advertising and event organizers start looking for replacement hosts.
Mark then has to repair his reputation, at first out of self-interest rather than genuine remorse. By the film's end, according to the review, his change of heart becomes real.
Cast and background
The film also features Fyodor Dobronravov and Maria Smolnikova. It runs about an hour and a half and is classified as a comedy-drama.
The review notes that director Anna Matison has long worked with a charity foundation that finds parents for orphans, and that her husband, Bezrukov, is involved in the same cause and speaks about it with genuine commitment. He shaved his head for the role, a gesture the reviewer took as evidence of how seriously he treated the part.
That sincerity comes through on screen, according to the review, which described feeling genuinely moved while watching and holding back tears by the final scenes, even while recognizing the familiar tricks used to get there: swelling music, children dancing joyfully, and characters who smile once they have overcome their trials. The review argued that despite how ordinary those techniques are, they still worked.
Too many messages at once
The review's central criticism is that the film tries to deliver too much goodness at once. In just ninety minutes, it raises an unusually large number of themes: that children in orphanages are wonderful and each deserves a loving family, that the era of racism is over and a person should not be judged by skin color or country of birth, that status and money matter less than staying humane, that a child's happiness is worth risking one's own comfort for, that success should not lead someone to abandon an old friend, and that the people around you are probably better than you realize, even if you do not always notice their care.
The reviewer compared the experience at points to watching "Yolki" ("Christmas Trees"), the well-known Russian holiday anthology franchise that weaves together multiple short stories with their own morals, ideas and characters that do not always connect logically. The review argued that the film's real weakness is not the sheer number of storylines but the fact that none of them is developed deeply enough, leaving emotions that fade quickly rather than lingering with the viewer.
As an example, the review pointed to the arc of an adopted child who gains a family, then loses it as the storyline drops away, before reuniting with them after a couple of trials. The review said this arc unfolds too quickly to generate much genuine feeling.
Verdict
The review suggested Matison would have done better to cut the number of storylines and focus on the central ones, which would have made "Ne po-detski" a more substantial and valuable film. Even in its current form, the review said the result is pleasant, largely thanks to its sincerity and to Bezrukov, who is described as throwing himself into the comedy for the full ninety minutes. Still, the review concluded that being merely pleasant is not enough to call the film essential viewing.
The review awarded the film 6.5 out of 10. Among its strengths, it listed the film's sincerity, Bezrukov's performance and its touching ending. Among its weaknesses, it said the film is overloaded with storylines and, as a result, fails to explore any single theme in real depth.
