[FrightFest Glasgow '26] FILM REVIEW: Karmadonna

Karmadonna - FrightFest Glasgow UK Premiere Review

Director: Aleksander Radivojević.

Starring: Jelena Đokić, Sergej Trifunović, Miomir Mima Karadžić, Milica Stefanovic

Written by: Aleksander Radivojević.

Produced by: Milos Djukelic, Predrag Popovic

Cinematography by: Aleksander Jakonic

Original Score by: Djordje Miljenovic

Synopsis:

A pregnant woman gets a call from a god who orders her to commit a series of murders.

Thoughts:

In comparison to Writer/Director Aleksander Radivojević's most notable work to date;'A Serbian Film' (he was the co-writer not the director)'Karmadonna' is relatively tame. However it is still a fairly brutal film with some WTF moments. Although I appreciate the director's vision and choices, it wasn't a particularly enjoyable watch.

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Jelena Ðokic stars as Yelena, a heavily pregnant woman who receives a strange phone call from an unknown number. She answers and her life changes immediately as she begins a conversation with a self professed God who is determined to use her as a vessel for his bidding in cleansing the world of evil and powerful people. But these people are specific targets and despite being arseholes it's still difficult for a normal human being to partake in such vengeful crimes.

Yelena's journey as handpicked but very reluctant assassin builds up slowly then goes from zero to 60mph in no time at all. There's other elements of the story that is introduced early (and explained later) that almost gets in the way of her unimaginable odyssey but the pace of the film is good and the intrigue is definitely there which makes it hard to look away.

As you might expect, this is a very "edgy" film, make of that what you will, but I can't complain about the technical effort that is applied by Radivojević and his team. The camerawork is pretty intense from the outset, free flowing yet intrusive. It sets down a marker early and just gets more and more frantic. There's an endless stream of disturbing imagery all backed up by a heightened score that sort of slaps you in the face and reminds you what kind of film you're watching. Ðokic is fantastic as a woman in peril and holds her own when she gets the chance. You really feel for her later on in the film. Particularly during some scenes with an older man who is drinking shots. Some of it felt a bit too real.

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The kills are the stand out. Blood and gore and shocking sequences. I don't want to spoil anything but things get cut off. There's a lot going on thematically with obvious religious connotations and a commentary on a society that's obsessed with money and position and power but ultimately it's structure is similar to a revenge film bursting with nail-biting tension and visceral violence. It doesn't always work but Radivojević clearly doesn't give a flying fuck and is just doing his thing.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½

-Gavin Logan

'Karmadonna' received it's UK Premiere at FrightFest Glasgow '26 on March 7th.