Elem Klimov’s 1985 Soviet-Belarusian masterpiece Come and See stands as one of cinema’s most harrowing achievements, frequently crowned the highest-rated war film — and often the highest-rated film period — on platforms like Letterboxd and IMDb user lists. Its unflinching depiction of Nazi atrocities in Belarus during World War II has left generations of viewers shaken, with one infamous 25-minute sequence routinely described as “sickening,” “devastating,” and “impossible to watch without losing sleep.”
The film follows Florya, a 12-year-old Belarusian boy (played by Aleksei Kravchenko in a debut performance of astonishing intensity), who joins local partisans only to witness horrors that age him beyond recognition. Shot in a quasi-documentary style with long takes and natural sound, Come and See eschews traditional war-movie heroics for raw, unrelenting terror.
The sequence that sears itself into memory occurs when Nazi forces round up the inhabitants of a Belarusian village and herd them into a barn. Over approximately 25 unrelenting minutes, viewers endure the escalating panic, pleading, and ultimate annihilation as the barn is set ablaze. Klimov films the buildup in excruciating real time, refusing cuts or relief. The camera lingers on faces — children, elderly, mothers clutching babies — capturing every scream and sob. When the flames finally consume the structure, the silence that follows is deafening.
Critics and audiences alike warn of its psychological impact. “It’s not entertainment — it’s an experience that changes you,” one Letterboxd review reads. Another viewer wrote: “I had to pause multiple times. The realism is sickening.” The film’s title, drawn from the Book of Revelation, underscores its apocalyptic vision: “Come and see” the true cost of war.
Klimov, who lost family members in the war, fought Soviet censors for years to make the film without glorification or sentimentality. He used live ammunition for explosions (safely distant) and hypnotised young Kravchenko to achieve his vacant, traumatised gaze. The result is a brutally honest masterpiece that transcends genre, earning near-perfect scores and frequent placement atop “greatest war films” lists.
Come and See is not merely disturbing — it is transformative. Viewers emerge haunted, forever altered in their understanding of war’s horrors. As social media buzzes with renewed discovery on streaming platforms, the warning remains clear: prepare yourself for a cinematic hell that sears itself into memory forever. This is war without filter — and it is unforgettable.