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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 47 movies from Volya Films
In a repressive city-state, a tomboy schoolgirl persuades three classmates at an all-girls school to rebel by forming a triad gang.
Mar 2026
Amsterdam, 1982. When journalist Jan Brokken meets Youri Egorov – the world-famous Soviet pianist who fled his homeland because of his sexuality – an unexpected friendship begins. Jan, quiet and guarded, is drawn to Youri’s brilliance, excess and freedom; Youri, in turn, recognizes in Jan a kindred outsider. As their bond deepens, Youri inspires Jan the courage to pursue the life he has always postponed: becoming a writer.
Oct 2026
The cross-frontier migrant's life 'within the system' - an endless, featureless, futureless round of queues - becomes even bleaker in December. Bipul doesn't want to admit it, but the arrival of Lidia, a Russian girl makes a difference. Hope? Surely not! A future? Get real! December is also the ninth month of Martina's pregnancy. But, just when the situation seems hopeless, help is at hand. A Christmas story.
Jan 2016
When a daughter becomes concerned about her mother's well-being in a retirement home, private investigator Romulo hires Sergio, an 83-year-old man who becomes a new resident—and a mole inside the home, who struggles to balance his assignment with becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents.
Dec 2020
In a snowy and industrial city in the south of Argentina, Paula, a 23-year-old girl from Buenos Aires, starts an intense job hunt with the sole purpose of saving money. The lack of a job, a home and a stable emotional environment will end up turning that search into a personal and introspective journey.
Jul 2018
The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the binding bridge between the geopolitical problems of post-soviet space and the common people. The economic devastation of the country had an enormous impact on the industrial workers and yet despite the upheaval, these people did not seize to love and suffer, to have and be friends and to enjoy their lives. In particular our resilient electrician, who possesses a wonderful and open heart. He not only brings electric light (which is often out) to the lives of the inhabitants of this small city, but he also spreads the light of love, loyalty, life and mainly laughter.
Mar 2011
Centaur lives a modest life with his family in rural Kyrgyzstan until he abruptly becomes the center of attention when he is caught stealing a racehorse at night. A story inspired by the myth when horses became the wings of men.
Dec 2017
Selena (14) is the only girl on a boys' team. Her teammates see her as one of the boys. The arrival of a new girl begins to change the dynamics within the group. Selena does everything she can to protect her position within the group.Selena (14) is the only girl on a boys' team. Her teammates see her as one of the boys. The arrival of a new girl begins to change the dynamics within the group. Selena does everything she can to protect her position within the group.
Jun 2023
This film was shot between 2014 and 2019 in the town of Zhili, a district of Huzhou City in Zhejiang province, China. Zhili is home to over 18,000 privately-run workshops producing children's clothes, mostly for the domestic market, but some also for export. The workshops employ around 300,000 migrant workers, chiefly from the rural provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan and Jiangsu.
Nov 2023
Headbutt portrays the desire of Tobias (15) to restore the old relationship he had with his brother Lucas (18). While they used to do everything together, Lucas now has no interest in his younger brother anymore. When Tobias fantasizes that Lucas will commit suicide, Tobias has no other option than to restore the relationship with his isolated brother.
Nov 2017
Since he was a child, Mari Sanders has been in a wheelchair. At school he was told that his dream of becoming a filmmaker was nice, but that he’d better be more realistic about his future. Now he uses his own story to discuss a broader subject: handicap and work. 80% Disabled is a humoristic investigation into our society’s struggle in dealing with handicapped people. Since his eighteenth birthday Mari receives state support, but he would rather not and would prefer to be completely independent. He wants to know the possibilities and impossibilities of working with a handicap in our society that is so set on having everyone participate.
Sep 2017
The Silent Treatment is a story about three characters whose lives are imprisoned in each other’s past. As a victim from Stockholm syndrome, the 18-year-old Belgian girl Tess has developed an obsession with her allegedly kidnapper, the 43-year-old Hungarian Szabolcs. Through the actions of his partner, the 34-year-old Hungarian Andrea, Tess will finally find her peace. Andrea will help the young woman in changing her distorted relationship from obsessional love to a peaceful mind.
Oct 2025
Nine year old Sara befriends a newborn dragon, together they will turn Christmas upside down and literary put it on fire.
Nov 2020
Fresh out of prison, Toni struggles to reconnect with her daughter Anna, who was raised by her grandmother Betty, while resisting the pull of her ex-lover Max's criminal world. Working at her uncle Frank's restaurant, she discovers his smuggling ties and Max involves her in a violent altercation on the docks. She faces pressure from the police and seeks redemption by getting away from Max. But trouble catches up with her, putting her family in danger. Toni will take all the risks to finally find a chance for her future with Anna and Betty.
This snackbar, owned by Ali, in a suburb of Rotterdam is a refuge for the local Moroccan youth. They are wild, violent and criminal. To them Ali is like an old, trustworthy Turkish uncle, understanding, funny but also strict. But what if Ali, with his addiction to gambling jeopardizes their habitat?
Apr 2012
Ifeoma Fafunwa, Mrs. F., takes up the challenge of staging her play HEAR WORD! about the abuse of women in male-dominated Makoko, a slum with houses on stilts in the lagoon of Lagos. Besides the original cast of Nigeria’s most acclaimed actresses, Ifeoma will cast young women in Makoko who are subject to the same fate as many of the women in Nigeria. Ifeoma connects with them through her personal struggle with her background. Can Ifeoma set a transformation in motion in the heart of the fastest growing city in the world that breaks with the silence culture in Nigeria?
Mar 2020
Katelijne suffers a spinal cord injury in a boating accident. They refuse to accept life in a wheelchair. Katelijne does everything she can to regain control over her body and life and begins a long and complex rehabilitation process with perseverance.
May 2025
An amnesiac old man Zarlyk who after twenty-three years of ordeal in a foreign land, returns to his homeland. Events take place in a village in Kyrgyzstan, where he is brought by his matured son Kubat. Much has changed during his absence: the morals of the villagers, mired in the realities of a changing world, radicalization of Islam, growing crime, and moral corrosive corruption began to consume... Zarlyk’s wife Umsunai, having lost hope of his return, went into religion, married the local authority Jaichy. The bright past invades the already accustomed Umsunai’s life. But nothing touches Zarlyk. An inexplicable passion for collecting garbage replaced him everything. Will the memory return to him and will Umsunai gain lost happiness when they are pressed by tight attitudes and immorality of the clergy, when love has eclipsed recklessness?
Sep 2023
Ze, a 17-year-old, studies hard at school to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia. When Ze encounters Maralaa, his senses are awakened and another reality seems possible.
Apr 2024
The shadow of an African immigrant in an abandoned house was mistaken for a ghost and the hilarious situations that ensued, creating havoc in a quaint Malay village.
Nov 2014