Renovation is a quiet film about life choices, in silence and mild scenes of everyday life. The events in the film do not unfold abruptly; instead, the direction creates space in which it becomes clear how life changes in small increments. The city and its sounds exist as a background on which interpersonal relationships, choices and unspoken desires are drawn.

The protagonist Ilona is a young translator who writes poetry, but does not yet have the confidence that would give her the courage to call herself a poet. With her partner Matas, she begins a new life together: a new apartment, a settled existence, peace and security. However, in this apparent orderliness, she feels a slight dissatisfaction that she cannot explain to herself. For Ilona, the renovation of the building transforms their shared life into a space of constant distractions, sounds and small disturbances. This disruption becomes a discreet accompaniment to their relationship: while the outer walls are being repaired, water pipes burst in the building, resembling Ilona's nervousness while wiping the water traces from glasses left by Matas, as if wiping the traces of shared life. Oleg, a Ukrainian worker and painter, quietly enters her day. He is a presence that does not disturb her, having a gentle and warmer effect on her. He does not ask for anything, he hears her and sees her in a way that brings her a short ease. Their relationship has no dramatic gestures; it is more of a recognition, a moment in which one feels that somebody understands them without intending to change anything. This encounter is short, but it leaves a mark — not because it promises a new path, but because it reveals what already existed in her.

Also, the film shows the relationships between grown-up children and parents. There is a lot of care and love, but also tension. Visits are short, conversations are cautious, and expectations are felt even when they are not spoken. Ilona often finds herself in tense silence with her mother, while with Matas' parents she tries to maintain politeness, but their presence is too close to her. Ilona builds warmth with neighbors and foreign workers more easily. She doesn’t have any pre-defined roles when around them, so she can be more natural. Workers from Russia and Ukraine work in the building, and the neighbor is from Belarus; war is part of their reality, but in their short breaks we see ordinary life, fatigue and temporary common everyday life. The film creates a sense of a modern city where people meet in passing, carrying their past and their troubles with them. The renovation carries on through the entire film as a loose frame: while the building is slowly being renovated on the outside, inside it breaks, the characters face their own little imperfections. Nothing is dramatic, nothing is resolved abruptly — but it seems that every move, no matter how quiet, is part of the life-shaping process.

Renovation gives the impression of quietly observing life at a moment when everything seems possible but nothing seems simple. Ilona is looking for a space in which to recognize herself, Matas expects stability, Oleg brings warmth that briefly opens other doors. The film left an impression on me because it shows how a series of small cracks shapes our decisions and shows how difficult it is to choose when everything seems available and halfway within reach.