To Russia with Love | |
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Directed by | Veronica Velasco |
Screenplay by | Biboy Calleja |
Starring |
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Production company | Mavx Production |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | Philippines |
Language | English [1] |
To Russia with Love is a 2022 Philippine romantic comedy film directed by Veronica Velasco and starring Gerald Anderson, Elena Kozlova and Scott Alexander Young. The film revolves around a Filipino entrepreneur from Dipolog, who wins the affections of a Russian free-spirited traveler Oksana and must now also win over her stern and disapproving father Fyodor. [2]
In 2021, Russian ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov revealed that a romance film titled To Russia with Love will be shot by "a Filipino and Russian film company" in Russia which will be about a "Filipino man falling in love with a Russian girl". To Russia with Love was produced as a straight-to-video due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic at the time. [3]
However the film was later revealed to be a sole production of Philippine studio Mavx Productions under director Veronica Velasco and writer Biboy Calleja and was produced under . [4] Filming for To Russia With Love took place in Moscow, Russia with some scenes taken in Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte in the Philippines. [5] The film is Kozlova's screen debut. [6] The film was described as "celebrating Moscow-Manila ties."
To Russia with Love was first released on Netflix on November 1, 2022. [4]
A review in the Daily Tribune described the movie as formulaic, with poor acting from Anderson, and says that the only good scene was one in which Anderson's character wrestles a bear. [7] Common Sense Media called it a "dull, confusing romcom". [8] Fred Hawson whose review was published by ABS-CBN calls the film "predictable" and described the Russian characters as stereotypical. Hawson also noted the bear wrestling scene as the only part of the film with "realistic danger". [9]
The film was among the most streamed on Netflix in the Philippines in November 2022. [5]
Please watch! It's a super funny, rom-com," added Elena."It's 90 percent in English, and then there are English subtitles for the rest!