Dear Comrades!

Released Jan 29, 2021

2h 0m

History

Drama

TRAILER

for Dear Comrades!: Trailer 1

List

Dear Comrades!: Trailer 1

1:55

View more videos

93%

Tomatometer

59 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Dear Comrades received critical praise out of the Venice Film Festival, with Variety calling it "scintillating" and "meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect," and The Playlist describing it as "a fascinating blend of dark satire and bleak archaeology."

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered May 01

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent Dear Comrades! on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

Dear Comrades takes a sharp, commanding look at a dark chapter in Soviet history made even more effective by its director's cold fury.

Read Critics Reviews

Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

[T]hese crisp, high-contrast images speak to another impulse as well: to look into a past shrouded in the fog of delusion and doublespeak, and to see through it with a clarity that burns and even heals.

Feb 10, 2021

Full Review

Anna Smith

Deadline Hollywood Daily

It's Konchalovsky regular Vysotskaya who stays with you, as a complex heroine whose utopian Soviet dream is gradually unravelling. It's a remarkable performance at the center of a devastating film.

Feb 9, 2021

Full Review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

AV Club

The script is filled with flat, rhetorical speeches that are done no favors by Konchalovsky's static direction.

Rated: C

Feb 6, 2021

Full Review

Carmen Paddock

TAKE ONE Magazine

By the film’s conclusion, the repetition of pledges and party songs have taken on a cold, angry edge under the remaining characters’ manic coping. DEAR COMRADES! argues that all are culpable.

Nov 30, 2023

Full Review

Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

The irony is beyond blunt, the film increasingly distended, its impressive reconstruction not leading anywhere particularly beyond “the early ’60s were not a great time in USSR history.”

Nov 29, 2022

Full Review

Josh Parham

Next Best Picture

The style never reaches hyperbolic levels, even when the chaos descends on the streets, yet the storytelling remains incredibly captivating.

Rated: 8/10

Jun 5, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

An

The movie does what it's supposed to do, showing part of history with its drama, which worked as intended, IMO.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This film portrays life under a communist regime. The way citizens under this regime are treated is truly odious. At each turn they are divested of power, and civil liberty. The enmity between state and citizen is extremely apparent. The temerity of the youth and oppressed comes at a heavy price. I felt completely immersed in the story. It was an amazing masterpiece. I have a whole new appreciation for freedom.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

'Dear Comrades' is a sensational, devastating work of cinema. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy has used his considerable skills to craft a film that pulls no punches in portraying in riveting realism the vile, reprehensible lengths that Soviet figureheads in the KGB would go to in order to insure their ever-failing communism and protect 'the Motherland'. Konchaloskiy and screenwriting partner Elena Kiseleva wrote up a screenplay that is equally insightful, honest, and gut-wrenching both visually and in the dialogue. Well done on the translation in general, as well. The script has its teeth bared, pulling no punches in delivering the insanity, desperation, utter outrage and consternation, and of course the outright fear that such murderous actions could be taken on your own people for simply wanting a livable wage to survive on. The full gambit of emotions is truly palpable, especially when portrayed by such accomplished acting. Komarev, Gusev, and Burova are all impressive. Erlish as the father who has seen this all before is all too real in the sense of complete hopeless resignation in the face of the massacre and the witch hunt that follows. Which leads us to Yulia Vysotskaya, the heart and soul of this film. As Lyuda, a committee member who goes from disgust over the actions of the workers to the broken, devastated figure riddled with regret for her words and terror at the thought of her daughter being one of the victims. There's not a single misstep I can recall in her performance. If award nominations and wins were truly going to the most deserving, then she and Konchaloskiy should have an armful each. The scene at the cemetery where bodies were dumped like refuse onto the coffins of others is a hard one to get through, but ultimately a key moment. Black and white film was just the way to go here, helping to put us in the setting so authentically, as good production design should. This does seem to very much be, in many stark, bare bone ways, Russia in 1962. The rundown flats, base holding rooms, streets, the morgue and hospital recreate the time and place so well. This is far better cinema than recent Best Picture winners such as 'Green Room' or 'CODA'. 4.6 stars

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The characters are caricatures (maybe Konchalovsky wanted them to be something like archetypes but didn't succeed) and the dialogue is as flat and unnatural as it can be.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tried to watch it, but it was so boring

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

ari v

Perhaps searches around for that ending some, but sure does find it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Director

Yuliya Vysotskaya

Lyuda

Vladislav Komarov

Loginov

Andrey Gusev

Viktor

Yuliya Burova

Svetka

Sergei Erlish

Lyuda's father

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

53%

82%

Ashes in the Snow

TRAILER

for Ashes in the Snow

17%

67%

The Birdcatcher

43%

58%

Waiting for Anya

TRAILER

for Waiting for Anya

85%

63%

The Divine Order

TRAILER

for The Divine Order

95%

87%

The Innocents

TRAILER

for The Innocents

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Dear Comrades!: Trailer 1

1:55

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Dear Comrades received critical praise out of the Venice Film Festival, with Variety calling it "scintillating" and "meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect," and The Playlist describing it as "a fascinating blend of dark satire and bleak archaeology."

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Producer: Olesya Gidrat
Screenwriter: Elena Kiseleva, Andrey Konchalovskiy
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: Production Center of Andrei Konchalovsky
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 5, 2021
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Most Popular at Home Now