Here's a real find: a scabrous and brutal farce that educates as it generates laughter. Briskly edited, superbly acted and directed, it's as funny and serious as Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, as much a critique of our present day political nadir as it is of 1950s Russia. A particular note of praise for Simon Russell Beale's Machiavellian Beria, manoeuvring and manipulating like a particularly loathsome toad. Terrifically entertaining.

Funny but not historically accurate, this brilliant satire is best enjoyed as a fiction which, nonetheless, invites us to go back to thinking about Kruschev and his rise to power. It is, in other words, close enough to some historical details to make us wonder what really went on. The fact that the accents are so British an American at first may seem jarring, but it actually helps create the necessary distance, proclaiming the film's satirical intentions. Some of the black humour is worthy of Monty Python.

Really smart. Really funny. Really good.

Stalin has died, and hilarity ensues. Contrast is stark with what must have been the reality in these days of turmoil; tryna cover up the great leader's demise, while finding a successor from amongst the party leadership. Reminds of monty python's more bizarre pieces, strongly recommended!

Wonderfully funny and -- amazingly -- TRUE in all essential details. All the events and people are exactly as recorded in a Biog of Stalin I read a few years ago, with Kruschevs Autobiography, and with a History Channel documentary. As anyone who has been involved in a sudden emergency with important people, it displays, beautifully, how even the rich and powerful can become gibberring wrecks in a crisis!

riveting, funny, suspenseful, and suspect accurate. the film does not gloss over the terrible evils being done by stalin but neither presents the characters as monsters but as different humans caught up in the police state.

What a wonderful film! Such a great combination of history, comedy and intrigue. A must see.

Dark, sophisticated, satirical comedy at it's best. One of my favorite films I have seen this year. The film takes historical events and turns them inside out while also teaching us a lesson that is relevant today. The cast is excellent.

What a goddamn strange movie. I think it runs a bit overlong, and the tone is somewhat incongruous (I understand this is intentional but that doesn't make it any less true), the most impressive thing this film does - aside from being genuinely educational about the rush to fill the power vacuum left in Stalin's wake - is how well it conveys the feeling of true paranoia. Particularly in the first act, while Stalin is still alive and Beria is at his full cruelty, there is an incredible sense of dread that permeates the film, turning it at times into full on horror. I wish the movie hadn't assumed we were so familiar with Russian history, as context would certainly have helped make the characters' motivations make more sense. I also didn't laugh nearly as much as I expected to, and couldn't help but feel the movie was about 15 minutes too long. Overall though, this is an extremely memorable film and one I can genuinely say I have never see anything like before.

This is easily the best film of the year so far. It's intelligent satire is hilarious, and so on point I can't help but think of freedom of speech issues in a similar American White House, where although not killed on spot, being fired on spot is par for course. This film also works on other fronts, building anxiety and suspense as we grow closer and closer to the final and deadly outcome of Stalin's death. The fact that this film is based entirely on a true story and still makes you laugh despite it's dark tone is a remarkable feat, held previously only by Charlie Chaplin in the Great Dictator.Of course without the work of Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor this film might not of held as much weight and makes just as much a point of free speech in current American society where there is no longer equal speech for everyone in a post me too era. Jeffrey Tambor could have been completely CGI replaced Spacey style as if it were 1940's Fascism. The fact that he is still in the movie and this didn't happen, really packs in a metaphor that I doubt few will see, and even fewer will realize that blacklisting in modern filmmaking can be just a fascist.

Big fan of the Thick of it, and now a big fan of this. Love that they use their own accents and don't attempt a terrible Russian impression, as that would alter the type of humour involved.

Really entertaining but admittedly set to a very depressing backdrop of stalin soviet russia.

It was hard watching this dark comedy without constantly wondering how much of the events prior to & after Stalin's death were based on fact. Evidently from what I have read after the movie, with the exception of the dialog it was pretty much factual. I did get somewhat of a Monty Pythonish feel probably because of Michael Palin. He along with Steve Buscemi, Simon Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough & the rest of the cast were superb together, although I would have liked Rupert to have had more screen time than he did. As the crazy son of Stalin, Vasily, he delivered a spot on performance, but just not enough. I also would have loved more scenes with Jason Isaacs, he was a scream.

A brilliant idea, and it works well. Dark humor to be sure, but they pulled it off.

I'm from Italy and I've already seen this brilliant movie. I don't know why here it seems that it's not yet been released, but I highly reccomend it!