MORAL OF THE MOVIE

This satirical comedy highlights the ridiculousness of power dynamics within a totalitarian government that happens to be rather applicable to most democratic governments nowadays. In these sorts of scenarios that we see too often in modern politics, those in office/power do everything they can to keep their position or go up the ranks without ever taking into consideration the well-being of the people they are sworn to protect/defend/represent.

WHO I THINK WOULD MOST ENJOY THIS MOVIE

People who like political humor along the lines of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show, etc. will have an absolute blast with this satire. This also applies to anyone who’s looking for a good time of pure silliness and ridiculous humor.

ADDITIONAL NOTES/COMMENTARY

Death of Stalin is one of those comedy movies that makes you literally laugh out loud even if you were watching it by yourself. I know I did. The acting in the movie is superb and beautifully walks the line between making fun of the ridiculousness of tyranny while also depicting its horrific consequences. With this film and the Emmy-winning show Veep, Iannucci has established himself as a master of satirizing the political scheme with silly humor. Death of Stalin will offer truly hilarious sequences all the while showcasing how detrimental this way of thinking can be in a powerful position in government. Despite being based on the true events following Stalin’s death in the 1950s, this film is more relevant now than ever. It’s no coincidence that this movie was made three years ago as the alt-right political movement took governments worldwide by storm (See: USA, UK, Brazil, etc.). In an age where we seem closer than ever to be doomed to repeat the same mistakes we’ve made in the past, it’s important to learn from our history and steer away from totalitarian governments. Films like Death of Stalin emphasize the notion that we should learn from the history books in order to avoid becoming the subject of a silly historical satire in the future. I’ll admit: that’s not quite the message of the film but it gets the message across that power and control can turn those in office into power-hungry monsters with no regard for the people they are meant to represent. As such, with Death of Stalin, you will get a great history lesson about the dangers of totalitarianism and political scheming in addition to the very enjoyable time laughing at these historical figures making a fool of themselves.