After the collapse of the Soviet Union, power didn’t disappear. It transformed—quieter, more calculated, and far more dangerous.
Starring Paul Dano and Jude Law, THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN, directed by Olivier Assayas, is not simply a political thriller. It’s a meditation on influence, manipulation, and the hidden architecture of control—tracing the rise of Vladimir Putin through the eyes of the shadow strategist who helped engineer it.
Assayas brings his singular sensibility to a world of backroom deals and shifting loyalties. Dano and Law anchor the film with performances that are restrained, precise, and deeply unsettling—two men who understand the system they’re inside, and choose to remain within it.
What lingers most is the question at its core: how do ordinary people become complicit in something far larger—and darker—than themselves?
We sat down with director Oliver Assayas to talk about THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN. That conversation on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is starting now.
