Masha and the Bear

The Russian TV melodrama Masha and the Bear (2013) is available to watch online on iFILM. Directed by Vladimir Fatyanov, it stars Olga Krasko opposite Alexei Yagudin — Olympic figure skating champion turned actor — in a romantic comedy set against the Siberian wilderness.

Marianna is a sharp-elbowed property developer who inherits a rural recreation centre. Her plan: fire the staff, clear the forest, rebuild from scratch. The huntsman Yegor is the first to go. When an ill-fated solo trip through the taiga leaves her stranded at his homestead, he puts her to work — chores, cooking, the full household — intent on taking her down a peg. Reluctant proximity does what it always does.

A straightforward 'taming of the shrew' transplanted to the Russian north — warm, light, and exactly as complicated as it wants to be. Stream Masha and the Bear online on iFILM.