#TIFF25: “THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

Olivier Assayas dives into the personal and political history of Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a Russian operative often referred to as “the new Rasputin”, largely responsible for the rise of Putin (Jude Law). Baranov took an unconventional path to power via theatre and reality tv, both of which play no small part in his ideology, as well as the tactics he used to cement Putin’s reign.

The Wizard of the Kremlin is based on a novel of the same name (by Giuliano da Empoli), and you can tell. The sheer volume of Russian political history disseminated, from the ’90s up to around present day, could fill a ten part mini-series easily. It’s unfortunate that Assayas chose to tackle this wealth of material in the relatively meagre span of 156 minutes. The story moves at light speed, years passing every few scenes, and this breakneck pace comes at the dramatic expense of the characters. For much of the Film, the Screenplay feels like people recounting history rather than creating it themselves. There’s simply not enough time to let these characters breathe or think out loud.

Dano is cold and exacting as Baranov, and there’s a uniform confidence to most of his performance. Baranov rarely feels vulnerable, which makes building a compelling biopic around him tough. There’s a stretch of the film after Putin enters when Baranov seems to vanish, and the perspective of The Wizard can feel a bit flimsy. Jude Law uses his British accent as Putin, and it’s a very distracting choice, undermining his otherwise thoughtful and sinister characterization.

The Wizard conveys a ton of intriguing, hyper relevant history in a short timeframe, but it doesn’t go down easy as a dramatic story of complicated characters. The film’s great sin is making its fascinating subject matter feel more like a textbook than a cinematic experience.

The Wizard of the Kremlin screens at TIFF ’25:

Thurs. Sept 11 at 9:30 PM at The Princess of Wales Theatre

Fri. Sept 12 at 9:30 AM at Scotiabank Theatre

Sun. Sept. 14 at 8:40 AM at Scotiabank Theatre