Alyona Dolgolenko

Alyona Dolgolenko, yeah, she’s not exactly a household name yet, but honestly, give it a minute. You’ve probably caught her in Fisher (2023)—that one with the weirdly tense fishing scenes and the soundtrack that somehow makes you feel like you’re underwater the whole time. She plays that character who looks like she’s about to snap, but then pulls everything together in this way that kinda makes you root for her, even when she’s being a little unhinged. Then there’s Yolki 11 (2024), which is, what, the eleventh in that Russian holiday movie series? I mean, who even keeps track anymore? But she manages to stand out, which is saying something, considering those movies are packed with familiar faces and feel-good chaos. Now, The Poet (2025)—that’s the one people are really buzzing about. Dolgolenko’s got the lead, and it’s not just some brooding, tortured-artist cliché. Nah, she brings this raw energy, like she’s actually lived through some of the mess her character’s dealing with. You get heartbreak, hilarity, and those moments where you kinda forget you’re watching a movie at all. She’s got this way of making even the quietest scenes feel loaded, like there’s something simmering right under the surface. If you haven’t paid attention to her work yet, probably time to start, because it looks like she’s about to go from “wait, who’s that?” to “oh, her again—love her.”