Movie spotlight
In early 1990s Russia, amid post-Soviet chaos, brilliant young Vadim Baranov charts his path. First an artist, then a reality television producer, he becomes the spin doctor to rising KGB agent Vladimir Putin. At the heart of power, Baranov shapes the new Russia, blurring the boundaries between truth and lies, belief and manipulation. Only the magnetic Ksenia is beyond his control, tempting him away from this dangerous game. Years later, after retreating into silence and shrouded in mystery, Baranov finally reveals the dark secrets of the regime he helped build.
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...