Having its world premiere at the LA Film Festival, Ashes in the Snow is not for the faint of heart.

This coming of age story is a heartbreaking tale of innocence and young love set against the brutally cold and dismal backdrop of remote Siberia. In director Marius Markevicius’ historical drama, based on the novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, one teenager’s resilience and passion for finding the will to create art even in the darkest of situations is a touching and tender watch.

Set in 1941, in the middle of WWII, sixteen-year-old Lina (Bel Powley) is a talented artist living at home in Lithuania with her mother, Elena (Lisa Loven Kongsli), father, Kostas (Sam Hazeldine), and younger brother, Jonas (Tom Sweet). One unsuspecting night, a group of Soviet officers kidnaps the family from their own home and forcibly puts them, along with hundreds of other captives, on a train to one of Joseph Stalin’s work camps in Siberia. Devastated and confused, yet trying to be strong for her mother, Lina realizes that continuing to create her art could lead to freedom, if not physically, then at least mentally.

Ashes in the Snow is a great character study of the depths of humanity and the duality of man’s capabilities when put in situations with dire consequences. Screenwriter Ben York Jones, who recently added creator credit to his resume with the Netflix series Everything Sucks!, is no stranger to developing passionate and affecting love stories. A frequent collaborator with director Drake Doremus (Newness, Like Crazy), Jones brings visceral heartache and layered character complexity to this independent film, proving once again that a good love story can transcend time.

The colors are crisp and bold, the landscape is vast and unrelenting, and even the dirt that covers the Lithuanian’s faces can’t hide their beauty. 

The conflict between Lina’s mother, Elena, and the baby-faced young Soviet soldier Nikolai Kretzsky (Martin Wallström) provides much of the film’s electric tension. Nikolai confides to Elena that he shares her feelings of frustration about the position he has been put in. However, their shared feelings toward their mutual circumstances aren’t enough to form any sort of bond or sympathy. The two develop a dysfunctional relationship that stands in complete contrast to the evolving relationship Lina finds herself in with a fellow prisoner, Andrius (Jonah Hauer-King). A slight nod to the Shakespearean dilemma of two lovers being torn apart by their surroundings, their optimism is a much-needed signal of strength.

The colors are crisp and bold, the landscape is vast and unrelenting, and even the dirt that covers the Lithuanian’s faces can’t hide their beauty. A powerful story that is equally matched with breathtaking cinematography and a haunting score from German pianist and composer Hauschka (real name Volker Bertelmann), Ashes in the Snow is a cinematic triumph. 

‘Ashes in the Snow’ is not yet rated. 98 minutes.