In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever. Putin and Baranov’s reign of chaos begins with lies and corruption, and quickly escalates to assassinations, tyranny, and eventually all-out war.

Paul Dano
as Vadim Baranov

Jude Law
as Vladimir Putin

Alicia Vikander
as Ksenia

Tom Sturridge
as Dmitri Sidorov

Jeffrey Wright
as Rowland

Kaspars Kambala
as Alexander Zaldostanov

Andris Keišs
as Yevgeny Prigozhin

Magne-Håvard Brekke
as Eduard Limonov

Matthew Baunsgard
as Larry

Dan Cade
as Agent Johnson
CinemaSerf
I suppose to be fair to Paul Dano, he does have something of the look of an apparatchik to him, but otherwise he really fails to deliver anything of the complexities or menace in this depiction of the rise of Vladimir Putin. OK, so Jude Law doesn't exactly convince in that latter role, either, but a...