The Death of Stalin

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To put it diplomatically, American relations with Russia have gotten decidedly complicated over the past year or so. It’s almost something of a relief, then, that political satirist extraordinaire and Veep creator Armando Iannucci would take a step into the past for his harebrained take on the Kremlin. His hotly anticipated new feature The Death of Stalin (the writer-director’s first film project since 2009’s In the Loop, a specimen of nearly perfect comedy) takes us back to the ’50s heyday of the USSR, at a pivotal moment prior to the superpower’s downfall. And as a titan falls, Iannucci laughs his head off at the little people maneuvering to avoid getting crushed.

Armando Iannucci recently stepped down from his showrunning duties on HBO’s Veep, but he’s just lined up his next film project, a long-awaited follow-up to 2009's In the Loop. And like his previous efforts, The Death of Stalin will find Iannucci working as Iannucci works best: in the realm of politics.