There are no custom-suited business types on these antiquated elektrychka commuter trains, just average folks off to work or school, hawking newspapers and foot powders to jaded fellow passengers, sharing grievances whilst waiting for the next train to Kyiv. Director Oksana Karpovych shows us a slice of Ukranian life by focusing on random passenger vignettes and everyday interactions: kids wrestling over video game devices, young soldiers working through puzzle books, bored commuters napping in uncomfortable seats, or seniors off to shop and sell their wares at train stations. The trains have seen better days and the passengers themselves wish for brighter horizons (or at least that the train windows will open during stifling summer commutes). The faces and stories have Ukranian roots, but they will feel familiar to us all; a fine lesson in listening and humanity. -KE

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