Arkady Anikeev is having a tough year. After being caught accepting bribes, Anikeev — once the mayor of the city of Sineozersk — is placed under house arrest, forced to live with the consequences of his actions and a host of zany characters. Not to be confused with Domashen Arest, the Bulgarian sitcom, Domashniy Arest is a Russian TV series that sees Anikeev help a childhood friend become the new mayor. 

Telling the story of Anikeev’s fall from grace is the show’s stunning title sequence, created with brilliant oily brush strokes by father-son duo Alexandr Petrov and Dmitri Petrov. Most well known for their 22-minute film The Old Man and the Sea (1999) which was the first animated film to be released in IMAX and an Oscar Award-winner for Best Animated Short, the Petrovs revisit their paint-on-glass technique for Domashniy Arest’s gorgeous one-of-a-kind opening. As Anikeev dances with an American one-dollar bill and men in suits engulf each other like morose nesting dolls, a smudgy and vibrant history unfolds. It’s a treat to watch each scene blend into the next, culminating in Anikeev’s metamorphosis into a lowly housefly, left to his fate in an empty room. Sweet justice.