Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Name: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Genre: Documentary
Released: January 21, 2026
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 80

2026

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Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: January 21, 2026 | Not Rated

Summary: Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages andPasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.… Expand

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

100

G. Allen Johnson

Mar 19, 2026

The film details how constant propaganda, lies and outright gaslighting can effectively numb and coerce a populace. Read full review

IndieWire Christian Blauvelt

Feb 1, 2025

In the wave of documentaries about the Ukraine War that have come out over the past two years, there hasn’t been one that’s offered what David Borenstein’s Mr. Nobody Against Putin does — and certainly not with such wit, verve, and insight: The view inside Russia. Read full review

Carlos Aguilar

Feb 1, 2025

Through the eyes of its delightfully brave, yet utterly relatable subject (also the de facto cinematographer), this terrifying, revelatory and poignant exposé offers an unseen human angle on an ongoing conflict that’s continues to be widely addressed in documentary cinema. Read full review

The Daily Beast Nick Schager

Jan 25, 2025

An endearing, infuriating, and despairing non-fiction portrait of a country’s final descent into oppressive authoritarianism, all of it shot covertly by one brave teacher, it’s a striking work of rebel cinema. Read full review

Amber Wilkinson

Feb 1, 2025

While not seeking to paint all Russians as ‘victims’ and explicitly acknowledging the situation is far worse for Ukranians, Talankin’s footage comes as a reminder of children as the innocent victims of war. Read full review

The Guardian Adrian Horton

Feb 1, 2025

Mr Nobody Against Putin ultimately stands as both an act of service and a tribute – to a school that once was, to students whose lives were and will be irrevocably changed for the worse by the regime, to a once fruitful job. Talankin has produced a must-watch, indelible document of ideological warfare that echoes far beyond Russia. How’s that for a nobody? Read full review

Jacob Oller

Feb 1, 2025

Plenty of the film feels vital—its observations of a nation’s shifting attitude towards war, towards hate, is crushing and familiar. Read full review

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