Second Class Citizens

A chain of loosely connected episodes follows socially marginalized, unstable, and emotionally isolated people as they drift through everyday situations that slowly turn absurd and disturbing. Through repetition, sharp dialogue, and grotesque humor, the film reveals loneliness, cruelty, and the thin line separating ordinary life from madness.

The title Second Class Citizens is deliberately ironic. The film does not present its characters as inferior, but exposes how society assigns value, normality, and worth through arbitrary and often cruel social mechanisms.

The film was never designed for commercial distribution. Like much of Muratova’s late work, it was created primarily for festival circulation and audiences familiar with European art-house and avant-garde film traditions.

Several performers in Second Class Citizens are members of the Odessa-based clown troupe Maski Show, famous for their physical comedy, grotesque characters, and exaggerated stage presence.

Although the film was produced in Ukraine, it is Russian-language, reflecting the cultural and linguistic complexity of post-Soviet Ukrainian cinema and the Odessa Film Studio tradition during the late 1990s and early 2000s.