Deeper! 2020

Roman Petrovich is a young theater director who is relentlessly dedicated to peeling back the deepest layers of every role. His exacting standards, however, cost him dearly, and he ends up missing crucial deadlines at the Main Theater of the Country, finding himself suddenly unemployed. To keep a roof over his head, he takes on any available job and, in a surprising turn, steps in for a friend as the director of a porn video. The project hinges on the performances of porn actors Lera, Lyubov Aksyonova, and Timur, and Roman approaches their work with the same meticulous discipline he brings to classics, coaxing them to inhabit their roles with surprising intensity. The filmed video proves to be a resounding success, and it earns him a permanent contract with an underground porn studio. The collaboration feels electric: new chemistry, bold experimentation, and a reckless confidence that after years of restraint, Roman finally has a platform to push boundaries.

This breakthrough does more than steady his income. It opens a lucrative door to a new genre—“deep Russian porn”—and the studio owner begins to profit handsomely from Roman’s unflinching, expansive approach to performance. The video’s triumph signals not just a career win, but a transformation in how art and commerce can intersect, at least in this shadowy corner of the industry. Roman’s notoriety grows, and it doesn’t escape the notice of the nation’s leaders. The President of the Country takes note of his knack for reinvigorating performances and entrusts him with a mission that reaches far beyond the film set: to repair the image of the Main TV Channel by stabilizing a faltering presenter.

The challenge centers on Vladimir, the channel’s lead TV presenter, a figure whose public trust is slipping as viewing figures crater. Vladimir, Sergey Burunov, becomes the focal point of Roman’s fresh approach to storytelling and presentation. By treating the broadcast work with the same depth he previously applied to acting, Roman helps restore Vladimir’s self-assurance, rebuild the audience’s faith, and lift the channel’s ratings. This televised turnaround does more than salvage a career; it captures the imagination of the country’s leadership, and the Minister of Culture, with the President’s blessing, elevates Roman to artistic director of the Main Theater of the Country.

Armed with this new mandate and a surprising background in a world many theater purists would dismiss, Roman begins to reimagine the Main Theater as a space where the boundaries between traditional stagecraft and the raw energy of cinema—indeed, of the underground world he left behind—are porous rather than rigid. He approaches the repertoire with a bold audacity, challenging expectations and inviting audiences to rethink what legitimate theater can be. The production he brings to life—crafted with a keen eye for performance depth and a willingness to take risks—becomes a high-profile event, one that even attracts the President and foreign heads of state to attend the premiere.

Yet the most provocative moment comes not from a star-studded cast, but from the convergence of two unlikely performers who symbolize Roman’s philosophy: Lera and Timur appear on the stage in a climactic finale, their presence and performance breaking through the usual applause with a startling, unapologetic energy. It’s a culmination that reframes the Main Theater’s prestige, tying it back to the world of the performers who first taught Roman the power of commitment to a role, and it cements his controversial, transformative vision for Russia’s cultural landscape.

Through a trajectory that moves from unemployment to underground cinema, from television rescuer to national artistic director, the story tracks a man who refuses to compartmentalize art and life. Roman’s voice—once confined to the rehearsal room—finds a broader audience as he reshapes institutions, confronts political oversight, and dares to redefine what a modern theater can be. The narrative stays grounded in its core themes: the mastery of craft, the lure and limits of fame, the politics of cultural prestige, and the enduring question of what art owes to society. In the end, the line between cinema and stage blurs, and the most provocative performance may be the very act of redefining a national theater for a new era.