In March 2014, I attended the first screening of Euromaidan: Rough Cut—a collective documentary chronicle of the Ukrainian Maidan Revolution. Quite unexpectedly, the event ended with an improvised mourning ritual for deceased Maidan protesters. Observed in the film, this ritual then transcended the screen and spread through the audience, stimulating an experience similar to a “collective catharsis.” What are the reasons for such a strong affective response to a visual document, capturing the fluidity of still unfolding revolutionary events? This paper considers both the documentary and its screening as invaluable research sites, allowing us to study ethnographically the uncertainties preceding and accompanying the reification of (new) ideological narratives. By discussing the multifaceted understanding of cathartic experiences in the complex processes of group-building, truth-finding and justice-making, this paper considers new directions for anthropological understanding of collective catharsis, as it is experienced in post-industrial democratic societies.