[8] Kommersant's journalist Elena Chernenko investigated the story by Lilin and proved that it was an auto-fiction as multiple historical facts as well as time spans didn't add up.

[d] Kuzja imposes a very strict education to the children, focusing on hatred of the Soviet officials such as bankers or the military, which are regarded as enemies.

Gagarin finally discovers that the ideals of his people have collapsed in the drug trade, so he enters into this new system but he ends up in conflict with Kolyma.

James Luxford from The National (UAE) gave to the film a score of 3/5 writing: "Sombre and grim, this coming-of-age tale keeps the scale small but the issues big, hinting at wider questions of good and evil in the world, but an inability to offer truly memorable moments creates a ceiling artistically".

[12] Lee Marshal from Screen Daily praised the lush photography and convincing lead performance, but noticed that generally the story didn't feel authentic and the heavy accented dialogue is difficult to be taken seriously.