Our Review
- Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge
- April 17th 2026
- 136
- Olivier Assayas
Paul Dano plays a fictionalised Kremlin spin doctor during the rise of Putin in this political thriller.
Jude Law has played several real-life people, such as Henry VIII, over the years, but now he’s taking on one of the most recognisable current world leaders – Vladimir Putin.
The British actor plays the Russian President as a supporting character in Olivier Assayas’ political drama The Wizard of the Kremlin, an adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli’s book of the same name.
The film focuses on spin doctor Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) – a character based on Vladislav Surkov – who invites Jeffrey Wright’s American journalist to his countryside retreat post-retirement and tells him his story.
Framed around this storytelling device, the narrative flashes back to the 1990s and follows Baranov as he gets into politics and rises to become an influential Kremlin official and master manipulator alongside Putin (Law).
The Wizard of the Kremlin features a lot of real people and events, considering it opens with a disclaimer...
