Volchok (film)

Volchok
Directed byKonstantin Smirnov
Written by
  • Aleksey Bezenkov
  • Konstantin Smirnov
  • Kseniya Datnova
  • Vadim Golovanov
Produced by
  • David Tsallaev
  • Taymuraz Badziev
  • Sergey Shishkin
  • Vyacheslav Dusmukhametov
  • Konstantin Smirnov
  • Yevgeny Kazakov
  • Kirill Balmin
  • Anna Velyaminova
  • Anna Rogozhina
  • Lyubov Sviblova
Starring
CinematographyStepan Beshkurov
Edited by
  • Azamat Ermatov
  • Aleksandr Pak
Music byRyan Otter
Production
companies
Distributed byCentral Partnership
Release date
  • December 4, 2025 (2025-12-04) (Russia)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Budget350 million
Box office
  • ₽400 million
  • $2 million

Volchok (Russian: Волчок) is a 2025 Russian adventure film written, produced, and directed by Konstantin Smirnov, set at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.[1] The film stars Yevgeny Tkachuk as Tikhon Volchok and Mark-Malik Murashkin as Vanya Ogarev. The cast also includes Yulia Khlynina, Sergei Makovetsky, Daniil Vorobyov, and Andrey Smolyakov.[2]

This film was theatrically released in Russia on December 4, 2025, by Central Partnership.[3]

Plot

The film is set in the Russian Empire. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Thirteen-year-old nobleman and orphan Vanya Ogarev flees Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod, escaping assassins sent by his own uncle, who has decided to seize the boy's inheritance. For his protection, Vanya Ogarev hires a fist fighter named Volchok, who he happens to meet. Volchok must help Vanya Ogarev reach Nizhny Novgorod safe and sound, where his father's loyal friend awaits him. But the whole event is falling apart from the very beginning: the dreamer, aristocrat, and aesthete Vanya Ogarev and the uncouth, sullen man Volchok barely tolerate each other from the very beginning. A dangerous journey awaits them, one that will change them both forever.[4]

Cast

Production

The adventure film Volchok was produced by MEM Cinema Production, known for such projects as Buy Me and Serf. The online cinema Okko also collaborated on the film, and Central Partnership served as the distributor.

Casting

The filmmakers considered several potential actors for the lead role of Tikhon Volchok, including Yura Borisov and Mikhail Kremer. However, the role ultimately went to Yevgeny Tkachuk, who admitted that such family stories had always interested him.

Tkachuk's co-star on the set was young actor Mark-Malik Murashkin, who played the orphaned nobleman Vanya Ogarev. Yulia Khlynina, Andrey Smolyakov, Sergei Makovetsky, Daniil Vorobyov, and others also joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography launched in 2023. Filming locations included historical locations in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kolomna (Moscow Oblast), and Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Oblast).[5]

Reception

On 24 August 2022, the project was presented at a Cinema Fund pitching event. The announced budget was 350 million rubles. The loan amount was 210 million.

References

  1. ^ Shagelman, Yulia (December 2, 2025). "Добро с кулаками" [Good with fists]. The Businessman or Commerce Man (in Russian). Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  2. ^ Евгений Ткачук сыграл кулачного борца в новом российском экшн-фильме "Волчок"
  3. ^ "Волчок / Volchok, 2025". www.afisha.ru (in Russian).
  4. ^ "Волчок / Volchok, 2025". www.kinoafisha.info (in Russian).
  5. ^ Petrova, Olga (December 9, 2025). "«Волчок»: где кончаются рельсы и начинается дружба" [Volchok: Where the Rails End and Friendship Begins]. Soviet Chuvashia (in Russian). Retrieved December 17, 2025.