The essay explores the implementation of VR technologies in filmproduction, — a development due to which audio-visual content, which is inhigh demand both in television and on the Internet, has taken a new direction,and which is a topical issue in contemporary film studies. VR technologies allowthe viewer who sits on a swivel chair and wears a VR-helmet incorporating360-degree rotating LCD monitors to watch different areas of action.A characteristic feature of VR content is a multi-sensory experience includingsight, hearing, smell and touch. VR creates a digital reality with maximumsensory immersion. VR is different from cinema, theatre and 3D technologies:here the deception takes place not only at eye level but also at cerebral level.The essay argues that the use of VR technology is particularly successful inthe genre of docudrama. A vivid confirmation of this argument is The HermitageVR. An Immersion Into History (Russia,18 minutes). In this film, the dual natureof docudrama, which combines various elements of documentary and fictioncinema, allows to recreate historical eras, with the viewer becoming a witnessto unique historic events. The film’s director Mikhail Antykov tells the historyof the Hermitage Museum in a spectacular form, making the viewer empathizewith the events they see through their VR glasses. The powerful artistic imageis enhanced by the excellent acting of Konstantin Khabensky in the role of amystical museum guide. Via facial expressions, gestures and gait, the actorconveys the emotions of a person walking through museum halls. Thoughtfulre-enactment scenes representing various historical epochs, augmented byunusual camera angles, inventive lighting and music score, create a metaphorfor time and give the viewer an illusion of participation in the unfolding events.Identifying the latest trends in film production, the essay demonstratesthat VR technologies continue the evolution of screen arts which possess thepotential to transform into an independent and profitable industry similar totraditional cinema. The author concludes that an increased interest in a nationalculture, little-known facts of history and the general historical heritage of anation is a fertile source of content for the producers of VR-docudramas.