At All Kosts

Vladimir, a former engineer, puts on his suit every morning and heads to the park. His job is to be a koutkekout, a professional mourner for hire at strangers' funerals in modern Moscow. Documentary filmmaker Anna Petrova follows him for three months, capturing the strange ritual of grieving for unknown clients. The 2025 film explores the boundaries of sorrow as a service in an age of emotional deficit. The camera observes Vladimir's clients—lonely elders, young people disconnected from family, businessmen purchasing grief as a package deal. Gradually, a portrait emerges of a society where even the most intimate feelings become commodities. The director avoids direct judgment, letting viewers decide where the line between therapy and cynicism lies.