The Death of Stalin (2017)

★ 7.0 1h 47m 2,115 votes IMDb

When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains — just who is running the government?

The Death of Stalin

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Cast

Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev Age 68 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Steven Vincent Buscemi (born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. His early credits consist of significant roles in independent film productions such as Parting Glances (1986), Mystery Train (1989...
Simon Russell Beale
Simon Russell Beale as Lavrenti Beria Age 65 · Penang, Malaysia Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his se...
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor as Georgy Malenkov Age 81 · San Francisco, California, USA Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brooks, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the TV sit...
Jason Isaacs
Jason Isaacs as Field Marshal Zhukov Age 62 · Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Colonel William Tavington in The Patriot (2000), Michael D. Steele in Black Hawk Down (2001), Lucius Malfoy i...
Michael Palin
Michael Palin as Vyacheslav Molotov Age 82 · Broomhill, Sheffield, England, UK Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his tra...
Rupert Friend
Rupert Friend as Vasily Stalin Age 44 · Oxfordshire, England, UK Rupert William Anthony Friend (born October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine (2004) and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), winning him awards for...

Audience Reviews

Mex5150 Feb 25, 2018
An interesting, but somewhat worrying docudrama look at the United Kingdom if Comrade Corbyn ever came to power.
Gimly 6/10 Mar 09, 2018
Pretty genuinely funny, which I was not expecting. A great one for me and my roommate with a hammer and sickle tattoo to watch together.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._
inspectors71 May 26, 2023
Oh, Lordy, how close were these characters to the real people? If you want to learn how illegitimate governments use and abuse power, this is your movie. Forget Seven Days in May, Downfall, All the President's Men, etc. This black-hearted comedy is about the machinations of the Politburo (or whatever these cunning clowns called themselves) to carve up power at the end of the reign of the 2nd worst mass murderer of all time, Josef Stalin. The callous disregard for the most basic respect for human life leaves one horrified, but the machine-gun delivery of snide and snark between these murderous clowns makes you squirm on the sofa. You know who the "good guys" are which, in itself, shows that same disrespect for human life. You feel conflicted because you've picked sides, and I picked Nikita Khrushchev, and not because he was played by Steve Buscemi ("Shut up, Donnie!).

If you have no knowledge of the story of the power struggle after Uncle Joe vapor-locked and rolled to a halt, then accept that the history isn't terribly accurate, but who the hell cares? The viewer sees the mad rush to grab, grab, and grab when the megalomaniacal monster moves on to a luxury suite in Hell. These monsters seem human. I'm totally sure that a black comedy about Adolph or Mao would have the same cunning sleazeballs trying to add to the world's supply of worm food. You wouldn't shoot for a sequel. Everything you need to know is right here.

What I found so disturbing about TDOS was the casual nature of killing people. Prisoners, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, NKVD leaders die with a terrified shout of "Long live, Stalin" and a sharp crack of a pistol. Sometimes that seems to go on and on and on in the echoing background cells of the Kremlin. You get used to the background noise.

So, if you have a taste for the sort of humor you might find in "Best in Show," wherein one character exclaims how romantic it was to lock eyes on each other from their respective corner Starbucks, if you enjoy the feeling of being conflicted about picking good guys when everyone is saturated with Marxist evil, and/or if you like rolling back the video to find out if he or she really said THAT, then sit back and sip that vodka slowly.

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