THE BIRTH OF HYSTERIA...!

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2019)

The latest from Armando Iannucci (In the Loop/TV's Veep) is a scorching black comedy surrounding the days after Stalin's demise & the power vacuum it creates causing his group of sycophantic yes men to turn on each other to see will inherit the succession mantle. Sure it's a comedy about a dictator who killed millions but why carp when the laughs come hard & more importantly often. Starring Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin & Andrea Riseborough who deliver lines laced w/expletives & sarcasm that I suspect the great Billy Wilder may've written them if ever he'd ventured the blue route.