Set in the not-too-distant 2025, in the aftermath of an incredibly destructive war between Ukraine and Russia, Atlantis uses no conventional cinematic “gimmicks”, as is common in futuristic films. The story is told in single long takes with a mostly static camera. The topography depicted in these shots is startling, starkly insisting that we humans really do live on a rock.
In 2025, Eastern Ukraine is a desert unsuitable for human habitation, water a dear commodity brought by trucks. A wall is being built on the border. Sergiy, a former soldier having trouble adapting to his new reality, meets Katya while she’s on a humanitarian mission dedicated to exhuming the past. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which they are also allowed to fall in love again.