Overview

• The film premiered in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 14, garnering critical praise for its stark portrayal of Stalinist repression.
• Adapted from Georgy Demidov's long-suppressed 1969 novella, the story follows a young prosecutor's pursuit of justice during the Great Purge.
• Loznitsa employs austere cinematography and deliberate pacing to evoke the oppressive bureaucracy of totalitarian regimes.
• The director highlights parallels between Stalinist terror and contemporary authoritarian trends in Russia and globally, urging vigilance against despotism.
• This marks Loznitsa's return to fiction filmmaking since 2018, with his prior decade focused on documentaries addressing Russian aggression in Ukraine.