Ukraine, 1996. 5 months before the moratorium on the death penalty, two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague. Long time ago, both of them were in love with the widow of the deceased. Immersed in the complicated case and long forgotten memories, they create a future where their children have to live, inheriting unrealized aspirations of their parents.

Miłosz Stelmach about the film:

Set in the mid-90s, a (post)transformative La palisiada revolves around the murder investigation lead by a police officer and forensic psychiatrist. Told in this manner, Philip Sotnychenko’s debut seems like any other crime story but in fact nothing could be further from true. Actually, it’s much more of a stylistic experiment, during which one can feel transported into the chaotic 90s and sometimes forget whether he or she watches fiction or documentary, as shaky, handheld camera superbly imitates the look and texture of the footage from this period, such as crime scene reenactments, tv coverages, home videos etc. Their air of authenticity comes both from artistic choices, detailed sets and costumes as well as used equipment, including vintage video cameras and last remaining cassettes from the early post-soviet era. But it is not only a remarkable recreation of bleak past so recent that the director—born in 1989—can barely remember it. La palisiada (a meaningless title in the vein of Crisit Puiu’s Aurora, Sieranevada or Malmkrog) tackles primarily the issue of death penalty, eventually abolished by the state in the 1996. It raises questions about the state violence in the violent times of transformation – a questions still as relevant as ever.