Film Review - Two Prosecutors
Images courtesy of Sharmill Films.
If you’ve ever been fascinated by how authoritarian regimes slowly take control of an entire population and wondered why people don’t fight back, Two Prosecutors provides a chilling answer. Directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa (Donbass, State Funeral), the film shows that tyranny rarely begins with open violence.
Set during the 1930s amid Stalin’s Terror, the story opens in a small but heavily guarded prison where “enemies of the state” are detained indefinitely. Here we meet our first prosecutor, Kornyev, played by Aleksandr Kuznetsov (Acid, Land of Legends). He receives a smuggled letter written in blood by Stepniak - the film’s second prosecutor - played by Aleksandr Filippenko (Patient No. 1, The Master, Margarita). Stepniak alleges that the NKVD (the predecessor to the KGB) are using the prison system to bypass legal procedure, to torture inmates for fake confessions and murder an entire older generation of party veterans like himself.
Kornyev, who is a young lawyer in a fresh suit, newly appointed to a state prosecutor role, stands in stark contrast to Stepniak, an old, frail, and beaten down party loyalist swept up in Stalin’s purge after Lenin’s death. Determined to uncover the truth, Kornyev attempts to navigate the regime’s labyrinthine bureaucracy. Rather than gunfights or physical clashes, the film’s tension comes from endless waiting, subtle stonewalling, and the quiet hostility of officials who try to nudge Kornyev away from asking dangerous questions. Many characters comment on his youth, both out of condescension and as a warning. They know the system, they know its dangers, and they know how quickly it punishes dissent.
Though Kornyev is himself a party member, the film never overemphasises his political allegiance. His commitment is to the rule of law and to ending the abuses of the prison system. But in Stalin’s Russia, that idealism is itself a threat. The story makes it clear he is likely doomed to share Stepniak’s fate.
This is where the film excels. Two Prosecutors exposes how bureaucratic machinery can become a weapon, slowly isolating, intimidating, and eliminating anyone who resists, until only those willing to uphold the system remain. Once dissent is extinguished, the regime grows even more brutal, even towards loyalists. It’s a stark reminder of how past and present authoritarian systems can operate, and a disturbing provocation: In the same situation, would we cling to our ideals and risk everything in a hopeless battle, or capitulate to protect ourselves and our loved ones?
A slow burn, but a gripping one, Two Prosecutors is among the most fascinating films you’ll see this year. Terror rarely announces itself upfront; like the proverbial frog in boiling water, it builds gradually, and by the time the danger is fully realised, it’s already too late. Totalitarian regimes are designed to crush anyone who resists, so the water can reach a full boil.
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Two Prosecutors is screening in select cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.