The latest from renowned filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, Two Prosecutors is a stark warning of what happens when governments turn to coercive control and corruption to remain in power. Premiering in competition at Cannes, and based on the suppressed story of gulag survivor Georgy Demidov, the film is both darkly humorous and deeply disturbing in its exploration of the absurdities of totalitarianism and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to protect the status quo.
It’s 1937 and Stalinism has reached its peak. Kornyev, a young prosecutor, attempts to seek justice for a prisoner trying to expose corruption within the regime’s secret police, only to embark on a Kafka-like odyssey that increases the threat to his liberty with every step he takes. Claustrophobic and austere, with excellent performances and a restrained aesthetic, this is a devastating account of life under totalitarianism.
★★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★ The Telegraph
★★★★ The FT
★★★★ Time Out