Movie: The Wizard of the Kremlin (2025)
Directed by: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Paul Dano, Jude Law, Jeffrey Wright, Alicia Vikander
Review by: Kirk Dulin
Review Type: SPOILER FREE

---

It makes total sense in 2026 to produce a movie with Vladamir Putin in the spotlight. It’s an enticing premise, timely, but not TOO timely. At face value, The Wizard of the Kremlin seemingly offers a 3rd person narrative of the person who shaped and built the monster from within the system. It’s the (again, seemingly) ambiguous tale of what unlocked a dictator to his fullest diabolical potential. And while the Jude Law certainly provides a complex portrayal of the Russian President – one of his better performances in the past decade – he is acting in a completely different film than what the audience is receiving. 

---

Dadcore, Direction, Dialogue, and Dialects

While I don’t philosophize about the Roman Empire, I DO contemplate current world affairs, war gaming my own speculation and potential catastrophic or life saving strategies to benefit all mankind. Special shoutout to my wife for her listening skills and patience. When a film rolls out about Putin, dads will show up – periodt. It’s not a stretch to have a highly conversational, dialogue heavy drama that depicts the possible conversations that led to Putin’s current regime. 

It IS a stretch that anyone will be able to hold any kind of attention span to the entirety of this movie. The level of mumblecore is in full effect here, and the sleepy timbre of Paul Dano’s voice is maddening. Whether it was a character choice or director’s note, I cannot fathom why someone did not raise their hand and express concern over an entirely one note performance. Against every possible conflict subplot, he doesn’t change at all. We don’t need him to be jumping up and down, but we do need variety. Even the most emotionally controlled people have varying levels of joy, anger, confusion, etc. 

Kremlin is a monotonous story with speeds slower than I’ve ever witnessed before. The director fails to visually mark the biggest moments, successes, or setbacks. Without a dynamic script or any actor to guide you towards these emotions, there is zero emotional shape to persuade, educate, or impact the audience. An additional distraction is that NONE of the actors are speaking in a Russian accent. This has certainly been adopted in films previously – where everyone adopts either a vague British accent or none at all. Here, it doesn’t work. We are embedded in the streets and government of Russia. GIVE US THE ACCENT. 

---

Dano, (Paul) and David (Jude Law)

NOTE: Jude Law’s legal name is David Jude Heyworth Law, which got me another alliterative subtitle to this article.

I’m not opposed to narrations as a story device. But it should not be used as a default to engage the audience. In Kremlin, we have multiple narrators. At least three if I counted correctly: Paul Dano, Jude Law, and Jeffrey Wright. 

For Dano’s overall performance, it is NOT the first worldwide release he needs on the heels of Quentin Tarantino publicly shaming him. Although the audience came to Dano’s defense, this doesn’t help their cause. He’s done some truly remarkable stuff: There Will Be Blood, Prisoners, The Batman. This was not his best.

Jude Law steps in as the calculated Putin. Even with his native (and always-charming) British accent, the character study he’s done to embody Vladimir is the exciting spectacle I was craving from the announcement of this film. Law has had a rocky decade of not-so-standout performances (save for roles in The Nest, Captain Marvel, and The Order where he is exquisite). I blame his agent because he should be getting anything he wants; not by name alone, but truly by merit. This role will certainly be the catalyst for a new momentum despite, I predict, very few people running to see this in theatres. 

---

Dead on Arrival

With no marketing and no story, there’s no real hope for this in theatres. Best bet – it receives an audience on streaming to increase its IMDB score. Aside from this, it is a completely skippable movie. I don’t say that lightly. I always encourage others to make that decision for themselves. Other than Jude Law’s return to form, I have no idea how I could encourage anyone to spend their hard earned money for a ticket. 

Score: 3.3/10 kernels
Review by: Kirk Dulin

---

The Wizard of the Kremlin released to theatres on May 15, 2026.