THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

"Usekovanye" is a film in which the story action takes place in one day, in one apartment, at the family gathering for the St. Patron's Day. St. Patron's Day is a religious custom specific to the Serbian people and it is marked by the celebration of the family’s patron saint, in this case - the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. The host of the celebration and his wife are divorcing and intend to keep it a secret until the St. Patron's Day is over, especially from the younger son, Jovan(a serbian name analogous to John). He's depressed, he doesn't go to college, he doesn't work or have any friends, he takes drugs frequently, he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown and is the complete opposite of his older brother, Dušan, who lives with his girlfriend, earns money and turns out to be the most independent and capable member of the family. That day nothing goes according to plan, starting with small inconveniences, from someone stealing their big table from the basement, to the bigger ones, like the unexpected return of the host's brother, a former heroin addict, who was absent for three years, or when they find out that a family friend won't come because he is positive on the Corona virus and urgently transferred to the hospital. In all this chaos, Jovan indulges in escapism: he spends St. Patron's Day with his half-sister in the room, getting drunk and doing drugs, burdened with his own doubts about the parents and with a burning desire to be abducted by aliens, and freed from this meaningless existence. Gradually, under the influence of alcohol and stress, family and the guests start to crack up, which leads Jovan to confront himself and the others with the dark secrets they were all trying to to hide or suppress...