Overview
- Deadline released the full international trailer on November 10 for Olivier Assayas’s adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli’s novel, co-written with Emmanuel Carrère.
- Jude Law portrays Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano plays adviser Vadim Baranov, a fictional figure loosely inspired by Vladislav Surkov in a story set in post-Soviet Russian power politics.
- The trailer highlights supporting turns from Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge as an oligarch based on Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Will Keen as Boris Berezovsky, and Jeffrey Wright as an American journalist.
- The film drew a reported 12-minute ovation at its Venice premiere and has screened at Toronto, San Sebastian and London, with a Red Sea Film Festival slot scheduled for December.
- U.S. producer Stephen Mao told TASS the portrayal is mostly positive toward Russia and praised Law’s performance, while some critics registered cooler reactions, and one outlet reports a January 21 theatrical arrival.