In a powerful and almost unwatchably intense new documentary, the brutal, incremental reality of modern warfare is laid bare. 2000 Meters to Andriivka, the follow-up from Oscar-winning Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov, has been named the second-best movie of 2025 in the United States, cementing its status as a landmark piece of frontline filmmaking.
The Unimaginable Journey of a Single Mile
The film's title refers to a distance of just over a mile – a short walk or a brief drive under normal circumstances. Yet, as Chernov documents, this stretch of wooded land in late 2023 became a lethal killing ground. Ukrainian soldiers from the third assault brigade fought for weeks to advance towards the abandoned, one-street settlement of Andriivka, a purported notch in the Russian supply line.
What should have been a 10-minute advance became a gruelling slog under constant threat from Russian artillery, snipers, and aerial attacks. Chernov, virtually the only documentarian on that specific frontline amidst a fog of Russian propaganda, captures the senseless carnage in shocking detail.
A Seamless Tapestry of Terror and Humanity
The film's power derives from its immersive technique. Chernov masterfully weaves together harrowing bodycam footage from the soldiers themselves with his own recordings. This creates a first-person perspective of the terror, reminiscent of a fever dream blending First World War-style trench combat with a modern drone dystopia.
Amidst the chaos, Chernov finds moments of poignant downtime, capturing the young soldiers – mostly twentysomethings whose lives were upended by the full-scale invasion – in reflection. Tragically, for many of these men, who in another life would be at university or starting families, the film serves as their final record.
A Vital Memorial and a Stark Warning
Watching the 106-minute film is a physically and psychically draining experience, a testament to its devastating authenticity. It stands not just as a feat of filmmaking, but as an essential document: a record of what happened, a memorial to those lost, and a testament to Ukrainian resistance.
The film also voices a profound fear, articulated by Chernov towards its conclusion: that as the war drags on, global attention will wane. 2000 Meters to Andriivka is a forceful rebuttal to that indifference. It ensures that the specifics of this pyrrhic struggle, and the human cost at its core, will not be forgotten, no matter how intractable the conflict now seems.
