An Earth scientist is sent to a planet that resembles our own during the Middle Ages—and he must not interfere in the planet’s political or historical development. Treated by the planet’s natives as a kind of divinity, he is both godlike and impotent in the face of chaos and brutality.

This medieval monochrome epic from visionary Russian director Aleksei German was adapted from a novel by Soviet sci-fi masters the Strugatskiy brothers (Stalker). Years in the making, this mad and monumental feat of the imagination plunges humanity into the mire on a quest for civilization itself.