The Seagull

Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG-13 (mature themes, violence, drug use).

It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad world.

Even the brightest bits of “The Seagull,” the gorgeous new film adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play, are dusted with sorrow, unfulfilled passions and unrequited loves.

But don’t despair — let the expertly realized characters do that for you. That’s the spark of the famed Russian writer’s stories. More than 100 years later, we still see ourselves profoundly in his creations and their hopeless quest for love and purpose.

Meet Sgt. Chekhov’s Lonely Hearts Club Band:

Medvedenko is in love with Masha, who is in love with Konstantin, who is in love with Nina, who is in love with Trigorin, who’s sleeping with Arkadina, who’s Konstantin’s freakin’ mom.

Wait — there’s more!

The sad sacks are all trapped in the same lake house about 50 miles from Moscow for the whole summer. And, since there’s ample vodka on hand, they fill the days by drinking to excess, crying about their age, screaming about their career stagnation and brooding over romance.

In Russia, that’s called “fun.”

Material that is arguably better suited to the stage makes a stellar leap to the screen here.

Credit is due partly to writer Stephen Karam’s respectful but wisely punched-up screenplay, but even more to three marvelous performers: Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss and Annette Bening.

Ronan plays Nina, an aspiring actress who stinks at it; Elisabeth Moss is Masha, a 20-year-old who’s already “in mourning for [her] life”; and Bening is Arkadina, an aging actress who really wants you to know how young she looks. All three are honest, beautiful and broken.

Moss, especially, has made a career of anguish and overcoming immense pain. Here, she’s a different sort of maiden, with an equally touching tale.

The movie’s other star is the scenery. If you’ve ever seen a Chekhov play onstage, you know they tend to be quite dark — literally — and cramped and stuffy, like shutting the blinds and parking yourself in front of a fireplace in mid-July. But this idyllic, woodsy estate on a Russian lake is your new dream Airbnb.

Director Michael Mayer, with his sprawling visuals, shows us there’s nothing more heart-wrenching than watching someone sob against a stunning backdrop.

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlfnl7j25mamlfrrK0edOhnGarlZa0trjLZp2ipJ1irqWtz62YraGfo3qqv4ydnKmqlajAqrrGZpmurF2osqZ5yK1kmqaprK66ew%3D%3D