This just popped up on Netflix recently. I thought from the title, it would be a grim sort of docudrama, but it's actually a pretty funny darkly comedic portrayal of the power struggle among Stalin's inner circle in the aftermath of his death, eventually coalescing into a desperate attempt by Krushchev to prevent Beria from taking over, out of pure self-preservation, with Malenkov, Stalin's legal designated successor, as the bone of contention between them, with Kaganovich, Mikoyan and Bulganin as a sort of chorus of comic relief fools, and Zhukov as the wild card. It's played for laughs with a heavy dose of irony, but it's also REALLY, creepily accurate to the spirit of the events depicted, though not precisely historical. I strongly suspect the timeline has been heavily compressed for dramatic purposes, but the film really captures the character and spirit of the kind of men and the kind of effect Stalin had and the environment he created. All of the characters, even Krushchev & Beria are hilariously bumbling sycophants, the latter trait being the only sort still left in high positions of power in the USSR by 1953, and most of them don't find it easy to abandon that quality, even when the subject of their sycophancy is gone, each trying to posture for the others as if he is the most loyal and devoted to Stalin, as they pounce on one another's verbal slips that could be construed as criticism or treacherous opinions of their worshipful leader...who is long dead and not in a position to reward or punish their attitudes. The film, for example, touches on the issue of Molotov's wife, Paulina, who was imprisoned, I believe in connection with the doctor's plot and Stalin's anti-Semitic purges. One historian, with blistering sarcasm, calls Molotov's abstention from the vote condemning Paulina to the gulag the bravest moment of his career.

For all it's comic presentation, the film does not shy away from the horror of the Soviet purges, with roundups and summary executions shown throughout the film, which both humanizes and condemns the main characters. Their sycophancy and timidity are informed by this environment, and their desperation to avoid a similar fate, but they are also the most powerful men in the largest country in the world, who would have the power to put an end to the horror show that is their state, if they had an ounce of moral courage or fortitude.

Interestingly, with a couple of exceptions, it's a largely English cast, with English accents and idioms (albeit in an often profane manner sometimes depicted as characteristic of Russians, with the narrative bonus of further degrading the characters themselves). The major exceptions are Steve Buscemi as Krushchev, Jeffrey Tambor as Malenkov and Olga Kurylenko as a pianist who is thoroughly done with this Soviet bullshit in her handful of scenes. To the best of my knowledge, she is the only character with a significant speaking part to actually be from the former USSR. Michael Palin of Monty Python fame is Molotov, Andrea Riseborough & Rupert Friend are Stalin's children, and Jason Isaacs plays Zhukov. I also recognized Mace Tyrell from "Game of Thrones" in a bit part, and Cato and Posca from "Rome" in slightly larger roles. Simon Russel Beale, whom I don't even remember from the movies I've actually seen him in, plays Beria. The not having to fake Russian accents makes the dialogue flow more smoothly, which is kind of necessary for the sort of humorously petty nonsense most of it actually is. These characters don't deserve the kind of gravitas a Russian accent usually conveys to Anglophonic ears.

It's an engaging and enjoyable movie, despite the utter depravity of the characters and the lack of anyone with whom you can identify. Krushchev comes close, but he's very nearly as cowardly and gutless as his comrades and adversaries, and arguably only finds the nerve to fight back, because he happens to be the one who is next to the block and now the opposition is no longer as formidable as Josef Stalin.