Inna Yesilevskaya

Meet Neal. He's lonely, gets bullied at work, and is unlucky in love. At the suggestion of a co-worker he decides to go to a massage parlor and in the process his life changes in ways he never would have imagined.

This is a story about love—the kind we chase, the kind we settle for, and the kind that sneaks up on us when we’re not paying attention. It’s about permanence, or the lack of it, and the terrifying realisation that maybe nothing in life—no feeling, no relationship—ever truly stays the same. Alisa Melikova’s debut film Illusions (2025) is a rich tapestry of emotions, following two couples whose lives have been entwined for 50 years. It poses the question: Is love real, or just a story we tell ourselves? And in the end, does it even matter?

Fleeing Russia, Jenia thought New York would be her escape - she was wrong. Yet she’s determined to find her home.