“Naughty” (original translation: Непослушная) is the 2023 Russian drama that focuses on adult themes and was directed by Dmtiry Suvorov. The film stars Anastasia Reznik and Alexander Petrov in the leading roles of Elvira “Elya” Tsvetaeva and Matvey Rysak, respectively, who is a construction company owner.

Plot

In a university lecture, an ecology student named Elya Tsvetaeva, aged 20, corners Matvery Rysak over a presentation on turning a dilapidated forest park into a developed site. Intrigued by her stance, Matvey offers a rather unusual proposal “If Elya spends seven romantic days with Matvey, and still wishes to leave, he will abandon the construction project.” Though Elya agrees to Matvey’s terms, hoping to reenact a scene from “Pretty Woman,” it doesn’t take long for her to understand that Matvey is not a pleasant surprise.

Cast and Crew

• Matvey Rysak is played by Alexander Petrov.
• Elvira “Elya” Tsvetaeva is portrayed by Anastasiya Reznik.
• Artyom Delovitov is played by Semyon Arzumanov.
• Vladimir Rysak is played by Yan Tsapnik
• Victoria Rysak is played by Anna Churina.
• Yuri Tsvetaev is played by Vladislav Vetrov.
• Trofim is played by Nikita Tarasov.
• Olga is played by Nelli Nevedina.
• Vanya is played by Gleb Kulakov
• Nastya is played by Sofia Kovaleva.

Being directed by Dmtiry Suvorov and having his enact each character, Fyodor Derevyansky also contributed to the writing.

WIKIPEDIA

As per the details available for January of 2025, “Naughty” has an IMDb rating of 4.8 out of 10, after receiving feedback from roughly 1,300 users.

Reflections

Naughty tackles the topics of environmental activism, power structures between people, and self discovery.

The romantic comedy is structured around the clash of Elya’s idealism with Matvey’s business like mentality and how their relationship manages to change their perspectives towards the world. The film echoes the themes of ‘Pretty Woman’ but manages to seperate itself by framing the romance within the ongoing socio ecological and ethical discourse.

Cultural Significance

“Naughty” was released on the 14th of February 2023, making it a part of Russia’s cinematographic foray into modern global challenges such as the fight between modernity and environmentalism. The young barrister’s fight against the corporate world helps carve a niche for discussions surrounding participatory sustainability. It has had an estimated gross income of around $3.5 million against a budget of $500,000. These figures greatly stress the film’s significance within the Russian film industry, which further adds to the discussion of the whole sustainability issue.

Availability

For international viewers, particularly those from India, “Naughty” can be streamed on Amazon Video and Apple TV, and can be bought or rented through these services.