My take is that Alyosha ran off to his friends secret place, then presumably died of exposure somewhere or killed himself. I think the film was suggesting he'd died in the pond that was shown in the first snowy scene, the final scene and again in the scene where Alyosha threw the tape into the tree. The problem with that is that the pond was on his way home from school, but his friend indicated their hideout was far away and you had to cycle. A little untidy of the director I think, although children can exaggerate distances.

I've read suggestions that the body in the morgue was Alyosha, but think that is well wide of the mark. The parents were just upset because it was harrowing seeing a dead kid.

I dont think we are meant to sympathise with the parent in any way. They are self absorbed, short-sighted, hedonistic imbeciles painted as such with refreshing directness. Neither mother or father gave a damn about the boy, the mother only changed her stance towards the end to try and save face and try and score points on the father. The father's treatment of his next child as an inconvenience shows his lack of humanity.

Apparently the parents self destructive behaviour is a representation of Russian intervention in Ukraine, which rings true. The idiotic and cruel mother jogging in the Russian Olympic tracksuit at the end slowly realising that everything is completely screwed up by her actions. Hopefully her compatriots have the same realisation and change course.

Also loved the cameo from the mother-in-law. Very good film with some very memorable scenes.

8/10