The Death of Stalin (2017) Review

 

The Death of Stalin (2017)

My suitemate Tyler found this recently, giving us the chance to kick back after a long day and enjoy something funny.

Set in the 1953 after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, The Death of Stalin surrounds the group of men closest to Stalin as they fight for power in this historical, comedic satire.

Frankly, I’m not even sure how much of this is real, with it being akin to The Interview but in Soviet Russia. Through all the bickering, fighting, killing, backstabbing, and blackmail though, is a stranger than fiction tale about the rise of Nikita Khrushchev and fall of Lavrenti Beria in the wake of Stalins death. And it’s absolutely hilarious, with the dark comedy being the ultimate saving grace of this film, making it a ridiculous, Americanized satire of events that is so preposterous that it’s funny. All the while, it’s telling a true, hammed up version of history though, with it still somehow managing to make serious moments feel serious with a light undertone.

That is much in part to stellar cast of comedy legends including Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev, Jeffrey Tambor as Georgy Malenkov, and Jason Isaacs as the Soviet Army General Georgy Zhukov. They, along with a great supporting cast, created a super entertaining and hilarious movie that is essentially just one big back and forth on whether or not they should respect Stalin or just say “nah, f**k that guy, we hate him”. It’s purposefully dramatic, using constant backtracks by our main characters and incessant banter that keeps you holding your gut a lot.

All in all though, this was a wildly funny historical satire, that took an already absurd situation, and cranked it up to 11 with great characters, fantastic use of the already ridiculous bits of history, and the often parodied backdrop of Soviet Russia made it all the more better. No wonder this was banned in Russia.

7.1/10