The Exchange

A war drama based on real events. In the middle of the night, Oleksandr — a Kyiv surgeon — receives a call from his son’s phone. He’s told that his son Kostya, a volunteer soldier, has been captured by a local separatist known as “Ghost”, a former cop. To free his son, the father must travel to the front line and pay a ransom. When a Russian colonel with no morals gets involved, one phone call turns everyone’s life upside down — and each character faces a life-or-death choice.

Production

Filmed in the Kyiv region in late 2021. By 2022, many of the shooting locations had been seized and destroyed by Russian troops. Members of the film crew were under occupation in Bucha and Irpin. Many of the men involved later joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Cast

Viacheslav Dovzenko, Yegor Kozlov, Andriy Olefirenko, Dmytro Linartovych, Vladyslav Mamchur, Nadiia Levchenko