Navalny (2022)Movies

Alexei Navalny, one of the most outspoken critics of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is the subject of this timely and fascinating documentary from filmmaker Daniel Roher (Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band). Navalny's steadfast opposition to the regime got him repeatedly arrested on charges that seemed fraudulent to international observers. The doc is shot when he was in Germany getting medical treatment after being poisoned with a lethal nerve toxin, as events unfold like a cross between Hollywood thriller and Orwellian satire. Navalny's leaving the country for medical care constitutes a technical parole violation, so he is immediately arrested and jailed when he returns to Russia. It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry, as the extent of the corruption and thuggery of Putin's...