A melodramatic film noir inspired by Billy Wilder and Douglas Sirk – already creating a buzz in Lithuania.

A masked intruder murders Deividas, Lithuania’s most influential human rights activist, just as Kaunas prepares for its first LGBTQ+ march. Only hours earlier, Deividas had clashed with his secret lover, Andrius, who is too afraid to come out or publicly support the fragile community. Consumed by grief and guilt, Andrius launches his own covert investigation, soon discovering that Deividas was surrounded by two-faced enemies.

As the police stall and threaten to revoke the Pride march permit, the city seethes with hatred and fear. A ruthless neo-Nazi gang poses as the self-proclaimed defenders of civilisation. With nothing left to lose, Andrius dares to play with fire: assuming a new identity as an idealist working at a printing house, he infiltrates the gang to uncover a disturbing truth.

Director Romas Zabarauskas follows his acclaimed “The Writer” with a tense, timely crime drama that nods to Hollywood’s Golden Age. A razor-sharp twist, double identities, and simmering erotic tension intertwine with secret romances, hidden desires, shady deals, and the thirst for revenge. Chameleonic actor Robertas Petraitis (“Southern Chronicles”) compellingly embodies a tormented civic soul on Lithuania’s very own Sunset Boulevard.

Edvinas Pukšta