A smashing success

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2018)

Brilliantly written and acted, Death of Stalin highlights the scramble for power in the USSR after the death of one of the most despicable leaders in world history. I often criticize historical and particularly Biblical films for taking too much license with the facts, somehow in this case the satire allowed a compression of events and played even better than the raw truth. Steve Buscemi in ordinary life looks nothing like Nikita Khrushchev, nonetheless he is outstanding in the role and the driving actor in the film. The recent spate of historical films is refreshing, and this stands right among the best.