Ein a nice, homophobic and hysterical grandmother, a gentle, criminal deserter, a stupid and clever beauty queen, a betrayed, fraudulent nail designer and so many other evil good guys. Although they are series characters, they are so contradictory, unruly, lovable and hateable that they definitely have doppelgängers in reality. You can see them, watch them in a new series: “In Her Car”. It comes to Denmark and Switzerland, France, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Germany at the same time. Comes from Ukraine. It is a reminder from Europe's public television not to forget Russia's crimes against Ukraine – just in time for the anniversary of the invasion.
But it is also a good story, set in the first days of the war in February 2022. But it begins – you only see this much later in the series – in 2014, in the old war and in Luhansk. The Russian occupiers are coming and evacuations are being carried out. A bus carrying refugees comes under fire and the passengers die. At that time, the sister of the series heroine Lydia, who drives us viewers through the episodes, also dies. No, the main character of the series may not be Lydia at all, maybe it's her station wagon – a Škoda, blue-gray and shiny. And he looks a little serious, but very friendly – his grille as if he was smiling.
Cars are always heroes in wars. They bring material and people to the front, evacuate refugees and injured people. Bring information, food, medicine. At least if they have good drivers. And Lydia is a good driver. She, a psychologist, decides to help at the beginning of the invasion. Says on Instagram that she will now drive people for free. To their families or wherever. Most of them want to go to the Polish border. Want to leave. Like that one sad, lovelorn deserter in episode four.
But right from the start: Each episode shows the story of a fellow passenger. Begins with a fairytale beginning from the off. Lydia's sister recorded the fairy tales for her. But they are not for small children, they are far too sad and brutal – like the one about the beautiful princess who couldn't read. It goes like this: Many brave knights fought for the heart of the beautiful princess, but she had already forgiven it and was in love. And one day she received a letter from the love of her life. But she couldn't read it. And the princess didn't want to learn to read either. She cried because she didn't understand what her beloved knight had written to her. You hear all this and see Lydia.
Two strong female characters, two strong actresses
She goes to Kharkiv to file for divorce and meets Dima, her husband, who cheated on her for eight years. He is also from Luhansk, speaks Russian, Lydia speaks Ukrainian. As they talk, sirens wail and a dog barks. They talk about their “Ukrainian Family” relief fund, which they founded together to support those who had to flee from the occupiers. Lydia doesn't want anything, no fund, no money, she just wants a divorce. Dima is now blackmailing her. Enter the princess: Inga comes into the living room with her loud, little dog and hugs Lydia's husband. He says to his wife: “You drive her to Poland!” It is his condition for the divorce.
The beautiful Inga is already sitting in Lydia's back seat in fur, sunglasses and her ugly éclair, that's the name of the barking and evil Pomeranian. She puts on her make-up and says to her reflection, i.e. herself, in love in Russian: “Kukla” (doll). Two strong female characters, two strong actresses: Anastasia Karpenko plays Lydia, Olena Oleynikova plays Inga. They hate each other, their eyes show it. And their looks have a depth that you only see in the big screen in the looks of Frances McDormand and Cate Blanchett.
And then this show does something it does every episode: there's a flashback. Luhansk, 2014, Inga's doll face shines in the light of spotlights. A beauty contest. Dima is on the jury. The sign in front of him reads “Head of the Luhansk Department of Culture.” In the next cut, her crown is on the dressing table and Dima takes it from behind. Then the day when bombs fall. In the flashback, Inga speaks Ukrainian with her mother. They escape. Evacuation buses are ready. Dima forces Inga to get on a different bus than her mother, who then takes a doomed seat in which Lydia's sister is also sitting.
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