WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
A 14-year documentary following a girl growing up in a Russian junkyard—it's heavy, beautiful, and will change how you see the world.
100%
If you want to build radical empathy in a teenager, this is the film. It's a 14-year commitment from a filmmaker that results in one of the most moving documentaries ever made. It isn't a 'fun' watch, but it is an essential one.
It’s the ultimate antidote to checking out. Watching Yula grow from a soot-streaked child into a young woman with her own dreams is a punch to the gut that stays with you long after the credits roll. It’s raw, subtitled, and deeply human.
This is strictly for teens (14+) and adults. The content isn't 'inappropriate' in a scandalous way, but the sheer weight of real-world suffering and systemic poverty requires a high level of emotional maturity.
The core of the film is about human resilience and the bond between Yula and her mother, but the environment is relentlessly harsh and soul-crushing.
As a raw documentary, it focuses on survival rather than creative play, though Yula's ability to dream of a life outside the junkyard is its own form of imagination.
Depicts extreme poverty, heavy smoking/drinking among adults, and the constant threat of a dangerous, mafia-run environment.
A profound exercise in empathy. It offers a rare, 14-year longitudinal look at systemic poverty and the strength of the human spirit.
If you thought Boyhood was a feat of scheduling, Something Better to Come is a feat of human endurance. Director Hanna Polak spent over a decade in the Svalka, a massive, dangerous junkyard near Moscow. This is a longitudinal study of human spirit, far removed from the typical 'poverty tour' documentary. Polak didn't just drop in for a week; she became a fixture in Yula's life, and that intimacy is what makes the movie work.
Watching Yula grow up is both heartbreaking and inspiring. While Moscow’s billionaires live just miles away, Yula and her mother scavenge for expired food and navigate the rules of the local mafia. It sounds like a dystopian novel, but it’s just Tuesday in the Svalka. The film succeeds because it doesn't treat Yula as a victim to be pitied, but as a person with agency, humor, and an iron will.
For a parent, this is the 'perspective' movie. It’s for the teen who is starting to ask bigger questions about global inequality. It’s a masterclass in documentary ethics and a reminder that the most important stories often take the longest to tell. Be ready for subtitles and some very adult realities—smoking, drinking, and the constant threat of violence—but none of it feels exploitative. It’s just the truth. If your kid is 14 or older and ready for a deep dive into the real world, put this at the top of the list.
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