‘The Death Of Stalin’ Trailer

Armando Iannucci may be the strangest auteur in the business. The creator of great political satires The Thick of It, In the Loop, and Veep, Iannucci has a brilliant talent for elevating swearing into an art form, morphing the discourse to Shakespearean heights. And it seems like he’s reaching new heights of absurdity as the trailer for the film that he left Veep for, The Death of Stalin, has finally dropped.

In the wake of General Secretary Joseph Stalin’s (Adrian Mcloughlin) death, the rest of the Soviet high command scrambles to decide who will take over as the leader of the Soviet Union. Hilarity ensues.

I honestly don’t understand how anyone could look at the death of a dictator and says, “Yeah, that looks like it would make a great comedy.” However, if the film is anywhere near as good as this trailer indicates, we could be in for something special. The film stars Jeffrey Tambor, Olga Kurylenko, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Paddy Considine, Andrea Riseborough, and Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev. The film doesn’t currently have a release date, but it will be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. You can watch the trailer below.