ELENA, a film by by award-winning Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev (Golden Globe nominee “The Return”) will open at Film Forum in New York City on May 16 and at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on May 25; a national release will follow.

Winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize and Grand Prize for Best Film at Ghent Film Festival, ELENA is described as a gripping, modern twist on the classic noir thriller. Sixty-ish spouses Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) and Elena (Nadezhda Markina – winner of Best Actress Award at Festival Nouveau Cinema Montreal; Seville and Durban film festivals, and Best Actress Nominee at the European Film Awards) uneasily share his palatial Moscow apartment—he’s a still-virile, wealthy businessman; she’s his dowdy former nurse who has clearly “married up.” Estranged from his own wild-child daughter, Vladimir openly despises his wife’s freeloading son and family. But when a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten the dutiful housewife’s potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan…

in addition to  award-winning Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, ELENA also features what is being described as “Hitchcockian” music by Philip Glass.