Olivier Assayas’s adaptation of Giuliano Da Empoli’s novel – a thinly veiled portrait of Vladislav Surkov, renamed Vadim Baranov, Vladimir Putin’s adviser in chief – is a gripping delineation of an impactful period in modern world history. The narrative is framed through the eyes of an unnamed American writer (Jeffrey Wright), who crosses paths with Baranov while in Moscow for research and hears his story. First an artist, then a reality TV producer, he becomes spin doctor to Putin (Jude Law), then a rising KGB agent.

Notes by David O’Mahony