A film about garage punk in the early 80s in Russia, and if you think you needed anything else, you're wrong.

Apparently _Leto_ (or _Summer_ in English, as _Leto_ is the Russian word for that season) is a biopic, but it's probably better if you know nothing about the real story beforehand. Or afterwards. Fiction is better than reality, and not just in my love life.

Because the film _Leto_ is like your favourite album: there may be some strong parts and parts you like less, but it infects you with a feeling that stays with you the rest of the day, making everything a little better along the way. Yes, a song or two may make the record a little long in places but we are revelling in the mood the music creates and have nowhere else we need to be.

In a year where movies about music brought down the house, _Leto_ is especially a standout. This film (the Russian entry in official competition at Cannes 2018) could have been called _Siberian Rhapsody_ or _A звезда Is Born_ because it is the antithesis of those blockbusters.

Unlike _Bohemian Rhapsody_, _Leto_ has no Hollywood razzmatazz. It isn't playback, it's the real thing, honest and human and flawed and scratched and raw. There is no sheen covering the film like a marketing condom; what we experience when we watch the film isn't deadened or second-hand but direct and in our faces.

The movie also outshines _A Star is Born_ because it is all about the music all the time. While the storylines of both have similarities (_Leto_ analyses the relationship between an established underground rocker and the newcomer he takes under his wing), _Leto_ doesn't get lost in the third act to explore maudlin clichés but instead it keeps the beat like a heart up to the not-so-bitter end.

There are certainly some false notes in _Leto_. The love story is often jarringly mundane and the anecdotes from the real people's serve as a distraction to what their lives were really about. But while Leto may not be perfect, it is absolutely the best album you will see all year.