Steel Butterfly 2012

Vika Chumakova Darya Melnikova, known as Chuma, is a teenage runaway in Moscow who survives on the edges of society by running with a gang of street kids. After a park robbery, the group is caught by the police and Chuma ends up in a precinct where she meets Captain Grigory Khanin Anatoliy Belyy. The investigation centers on a series of brutal murders of young girls with artistic ties, all taking place in isolated patches of the same park, suggesting a serial killer at work.

Khanin sees an opportunity to use Chuma as bait, offering her freedom if she cooperates and threatening juvenile detention if she refuses. She agrees, but only on the condition that she is released until morning and that her confiscated switchblade is returned. As the case unfolds, she navigates tricky loyalties within her street circle and learns to manipulate people around her, including Khanin, sometimes with flirtation and provocation.

As the stakeouts continue, the relationship between investigator and runaway grows increasingly tense and morally ambiguous. Chuma even accompanies Khanin on a night out, where he teaches her to shoot, further blurring the line between ally and captive. Yet her reckless impulses threaten the operation when she abandons her distress button and vanishes during a crucial search for the killer. She later confronts Khanin’s girlfriend, Tatiana, threatening her with a knife in a jealous outburst.

When the killer strikes again, the truth emerges that a police officer, Tolik, is the perpetrator. Chuma confronts him in a violent encounter, and Tolik is finally captured. Despite her contributions to advancing the investigation, Khanin decides to return Chuma to the orphanage, recognizing the volatile churn beneath her surface. She leaves with an unspoken vow to seek independence, but the film’s closing moment lingers on her lingering trauma as she spots another young girl in the park, torn between harming her and seeking companionship.