⚖️Two Prosecutors (2025): Justice, Corruption & Absurdity in Stalin’s Shadow – Plot, Cast, Release Date & Where to Watch

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." — Karl Marx’s words echo ominously at the heart of Two Prosecutors, a 2025 historical drama written and directed by Sergei Loznitsa. Adapted from Georgy Demidov’s novella, the film transforms the suffocating paranoia of Stalin’s Great Terror into a pitch-black absurdist tragedy, exploring how the pursuit of justice can be crushed—and warped—under totalitarian rule.

Premiering in the main competition at Cannes 2025, where it won the François Chalais Prize, Two Prosecutors has already cemented itself as one of the year’s most haunting films.

🕰️ A Purge-Era Drama with Teeth

Set in 1937, the story follows Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov), a young Soviet prosecutor who stumbles upon a desperate letter written by a prisoner in Bryansk. Convinced that the man is a victim of NKVD corruption, Kornyev dares to challenge the system by appealing to none other than the Procurator General himself.

But as he digs deeper, the film traps him in a Kafkaesque nightmare—bureaucrats, double-speak, and backroom betrayals make it increasingly unclear whether he’s seeking justice for the prisoner, or simply marching toward his own doom.

Loznitsa paints the courtroom as both a theater of justice and a stage for absurdity. Like a grim echo of Dostoevsky and Gogol, every exchange teeters between deadly seriousness and grotesque satire.

👥 The Faces of Justice and Corruption

The film’s power lies in its performances:

• Aleksandr Kuznetsov delivers a raw and determined Kornyev, embodying the naivety of a man who dares to hope for truth in an age of lies.

• Aleksandr Filippenko plays the enigmatic Stepniak—nicknamed Pegleg—whose presence embodies both wisdom and menace.

• Anatoliy Beliy steps into the role of the infamous Andrey Vyshinsky, the real-life Soviet prosecutor whose theatrical show trials became the very symbol of Stalinist injustice.

Their interactions simmer with tension, making every courtroom scene feel like a duel between survival and moral conviction.

🎬 A Cinematic Language of Fear

Shot by Oleg Mutu, the cinematography cloaks Soviet offices and prison corridors in cold, oppressive shadows. The camera lingers on faces, papers, and doors that may or may not open, building an atmosphere where silence is as threatening as a gunshot.

Meanwhile, Christiaan Verbeek’s score gnaws at the edges of every scene—subtle, discordant, and suffocating. Each note underscores the paradox of a justice system built not to protect, but to destroy.

🏆 Reception and Legacy

At Cannes 2025, critics praised Two Prosecutors for its biting satire and moral weight. The François Chalais Prize honored not just its artistry, but its unwavering focus on historical truth and the dangers of unchecked authority.

With its German theatrical release slated for February 19, 2026, the film is poised to continue sparking debate across Europe. It’s not a courtroom drama in the traditional sense—it’s an indictment of power itself, wrapped in a darkly absurdist shell.

⚖️ Final Verdict

Two Prosecutors is not just a historical drama—it’s a mirror. Loznitsa forces us to ask: what happens when law becomes theater, and justice a farce? The answers may be buried in the past, but they echo into our present.

As one character mutters in the film: “In the land of truth, silence is the loudest crime.”