Independent Cinema for Everyone

Iannucci (The Thick of It, In the Loop) is in his element with this acerbic send-up of the Soviet dictator and the battle for power after his sudden demise. 1953 and Stalin seems in sound health, terrorising everyone, summarily killing off suspected dissenters. That comes to an abrupt halt when the dictator is found belly-up on the floor of his office, leading to plotting and jostling for power by a group of connivers who previously cowered under their boss. All of the top lackeys are in contention.

Dir. Armando Iannucci, France/UK, 2017, 107 mins. Cast. Richard Brake, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs