Assassin of the Tsar

A slow, unsettling plunge into obsession and history, where conversations blur into vivid, grim reenactments that linger long after.

Directed by

Karen Shakhnazarov

Genres

History, Drama

Starring

Oleg Yankovsky, Malcolm McDowell, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan

Tagline

Obsessed with the past. Condemned to repeat it.

Overview

A new doctor from Moscow arrives at a provincial mental institution. His interest is the peculiarities of the psyche of a patient who believes that he is Yakov Yurovsky, the man who assassinated the last Russian tsar. In the course of their conversations it transpires that the patient is a kind of philosopher, not without a gift for suggestion. In a while the doctor himself falls under his patient’s influence: he tends to relive that fatal night of June 16-17, 1918 when, without any investigation or trial, Tsar Nicholas II, who had recently abdicated, was murdered, together with his wife, daughters and incurably ill heir. Soon the doctor realizes that the tragedy of the last Russian tsar is in part his own tragedy, too...

How it feels

Dark, bleak, tense and melancholic. Slow-burning and demanding.

About

Obsession, identity, madness, memory

Content

Strong violence. Mild gore and language. No sexual content.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)