"Beanpole is a take on postwar trauma, post-ceasefire collateral damage, and the process of healing that uniquely prioritizes the female perspective. Balagov and his co-writer, Aleksandr Terekhov, have mentioned the influence of Svetlana Alexievich’s WWII oral history, “The Unwomanly Face of War,” on their screenplay, and the choice to focus on a gender-specific experience (of war) is key."

-- David Fear, Rolling Stone


"More minute actions, like Iya’s hands on a dying soldier’s neck or Masha’s elusive smiles, often framed in visceral close-up, draw one into the intimacies of their being; that both women are played by first-time actresses is extraordinary."

-- Kat Sachs, Chicago Reader