Since childhood, Peter has been obsessed with two things: puppets and the beautiful Lisa. Two obsessions that he takes with him to adulthood, where he manipulates Lisa like a puppet in an onstage dance performance. But the couple's life is turned upside down by the sudden death of their baby, born with a rare disease. While Lisa distances herself and no longer obeys the rules of their game, Peter decides to create a new muse: a sophisticated human-sized doll that is the spitting image of Lisa...

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Puppet Syndrome is a captivating film. Thanks to a strange atmosphere and refined mise en scene, director Elena Hazanov slowly but surely pulls the audience into an obscure story that is both alluring (Chulpan Khamatova from Goodbye, Lenin) and scary. The classic theme of obsession goes in a beautiful direction – the dance scenes are especially impressive. It is in these disturbing and poetic moments that Puppet Syndrome becomes striking, distracting the audiences from its weaknesses and often slow pace.