Characters / The Death of Stalin

NOTE: While the characters in this film are based on real (and in this case exceedingly notorious) individuals, remember that this page is a discussion of their depictions in a work of fiction, not the real life individuals. Tropes and examples should focus around their fictional portrayals in this film, and discussions of their real-life actions should be placed in this context.

The Stalin Family

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

"You wanna know where fucking Polnikov is? You wanna go there?"

Portrayed By: Adrian McLoughlin

The eponymous old tyrant, total ruler of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. Although he's only alive for the first fifth of the movie, his shadow obviously looms large over the rest of it.

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• Almost Dead Guy: Played with; he briefly revives from his coma, but thanks to his stroke he's completely incapable of coherent communication, barely any higher cognitive functions remaining, and spends his last few moments of near-lucidity waving his arm around at various people and things in the room and croaking incoherently before succumbing. The Politburo briefly make a valiant but confused attempt at deciphering some kind of patriotic final message from a painting he happened to vaguely gesture at, but eventually give up and don't think about it again.
• Bad Boss: One of the baddest bosses of the 20th Century. By 1953, he's had everyone killed except for the band of twitchy sycophants and mass murderers we're introduced to. Also The Dreaded because he can and will have you killed the second he thinks you are no longer useful to him, or to scare the living crap out of his other yes-men, or even because he's just plain bored of looking at you. And it doesn't help that he's The Paranoiac on top of all this.
• The Caligula: It goes without saying since he's Stalin. Countless people under his regime die because of his mercurial, petty, paranoid, and psychotic nature.
• Dark Lord on Life Support: A literal example when he suffers his stroke.
• The Dreaded: Absolutely everyone is terrified of him, and for good reason, since he'll have people killed at the drop of a hat.
• Evil Is Petty: The very real threat of death looms large over anyone and everyone who annoys or inconveniences Stalin in the slightest way (like the directors of the orchestra)...or even just because (like Molotov).
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Stalin looks like a kindly grandpa or uncle, but he's actually one of the most repressive, murderous, and paranoid dictators of the 20th century.
• Faux Affably Evil: In his short screentime, Stalin is established as a man who likes to laugh and have a fun time. Underneath that joking funny demeanor is a veiled threat to anyone who even slightly upsets him, and he's happy to direct that mirth at all manner of misfortunes. Notably, he has a lively dinner at the beginning with Molotov even after he signed the man's death warrant earlier in the evening.
• The Hyena: When he is in funny mode.
• Jerkass: Mostly comes across as incredibly petty and vain. Exemplified when reading Maria Yudina's note: What is his reaction to reading a letter that accuses him of terrible crimes against the Russian people and proclaims he is damned to Hell? To start laughing his ass off.
• Karmic Death: Dies after his stroke partially because his own bodyguards are too terrified of him to proactively call for help, partly because he purged all the competent doctors, and partially because his inner circle is so paranoid after serving in Stalin's intrigue-heavy reign that their first concern is covering their own asses before helping him.
• Limited Wardrobe: He always wears the same working class gray uniform.
• Lower-Class Lout: Is given a thick Cockney accent in the movie (which tends to heavily imply this), and is rather vulgar and dickish, to boot. This is considered Truth in Television, as Lenin was reported to have dismissively called him a "Georgian peasant" when somebody suggested that Stalin be his successor.
• Mood-Swinger: One second he is laughing, and the next he is deadly serious (emphasis on the deadly). It makes him all the more terrifying.
• The Napoleon: Yudina is surprised by how short he actually is. Truth in Television, Stalin was 5'3" and would wear platform shoes and/or stand on a stool hidden behind the podium when appearing in public.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: A dangerous version. People are subject to his petty whims and he doesn't seem to do much of the actual work in running the government.
• Small Role, Big Impact: In the movie, that is. He has barely any lines of dialogue, and the few moments of screen-time he has that don't involve him lying comatose in a puddle of his own indignity involve him signing off on some paperwork, ordering a recording of a concert and making his cabinet have dinner, drinks and watch an Old West film with him. Nevertheless, as the title suggests, the entire film revolves around the repercussions of his fatal illness and death. Helps that he's an unquestioned tyrant with ultimate power of life and death over one hundred and eighty million people, of course.
• The Sociopath: The man has zero emotional connection to anyone, except maybe Svetlana. One moment, he can be joking around with you, and the next minute, he'll put you on a kill list.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Once he finally gets the record, all he does is complain about how long it took.
• Wicked Cultured: Shown to be a lover of the arts. The plot is kicked off when he requests a recording of a piano concerto he enjoyed. (This is Truth in Television; Stalin was known to be, among other things, an avid reader, a patron of the arts — as long as they were sufficiently loyal to him, of course — and in his youth was actually quite a talented poet.)

Svetlana Alliluyeva

Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva

"I may as well just shoot myself, like Mother."

Portrayed By: Andrea Riseborough

Stalin's much-beloved daughter.

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• Alliterative Name: Although it is never said aloud in the movie.
• Big Sister Instinct: She's very protective of her screw-up of a brother, Vasily, even though she's actually younger than him.
• Closer to Earth: The Heart of the Stalin family, and the only (living) female.
• Deadpan Snarker: Despite her good hearted nature, she's quick to throw this.
• Good Is Impotent: She's the nicest character in the movie, but she has zero real power. When Zhukov punches Vasily, and when Khrushchev ships her to Austria, all she can do is whine and complain.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Her Fatal Flaw. She doesn't seem to realize how insincere the members of the Soviet Presidium are in offering their condolences, and seems to think her brother isn't as bad as he makes himself out to be. She also doesn't catch on to how horrible and cut-throat the prospective leaders are, especially Beria, who she gets along with the most it seems. Her last line of the film confirms this as she says, "I never thought it would be you," to Khrushchev as he's exiling her to Austria, and becomes the de-facto leader of the Soviet Union.
• The Lost Lenore: Gender-flipped. Svetlana still has strong feelings for her first lover Alexey Kapler, and asks Beria to release him. Beria says that he is dead. ^noteIn truth, he was alive in 1953 and released the same year.
• Loved by All: She is popular with everyone, which is why Khrushchev and Beria want to recruit her for their own cause.
• Morality Pet:
  • Acts as one for Khrushchev, who is portrayed as genuinely caring for her well-being, while Beria's concern is about how to use her as a pawn in his climb to power. However, it's not enough to stop Khrushchev from coldly exiling her once Beria's been executed, separating her from Vasily. While she's arguably safer the farther she is from Moscow, she's clearly still hurt by Khrushchev's actions and attitude in that moment.
  • Was also one to Stalin in real life. ^note In Real Life, Svetlana wasn't completely spared her father's wretched behavior. The film mentions how Stalin deported her boyfriend but didn't mention how Stalin further strained her relationship by preventing her from having an artistic career and covering up her mother's suicide.
• Nom de Mom: Took to using her mother's maiden name instead of her birth name Stalina.
• Serious Business: Her refusal to sit down out of respect for her late father becomes a Running Gag.
• Undying Loyalty: She still loves Vasily no matter how drunk or stupid he is.
• Upper-Class Twit: See Horrible Judge of Character above and Wrong Genre Savvy below. She also spends the entirety of the film ordering everyone around as if she's the Princess Royal, whilst having no clue how dangerous the Russian capital has become for her since her father's death, and that while she's the closest thing the Soviet Union has to this trope, the post-Tsarist nature of Russia allows for elites to be axed off at any moment's notice.
• White Sheep: Her dad's a dictator, her mother isn't in the picture, her brother's a hot mess, but Svetlana is a normal, kind lady. It's a shame that she's stuck in the middle of her father's mess...
• Women Are Wiser: Despite her defects, she comes across as wiser and more stable than Stalin and (especially) Vasily.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: At times gives the impression she's in the Soviet version of Downton Abbey or The Crown, when she's actually in House of Cards. She seems to realize her mistake once Khrushchev flat out tells her to leave to Vienna, reminding her that she means nothing once the Politiburo has used her for their own gains and that she's an annoyance at best.

Vasily Stalin

Lieutenant General Vasily Iosifovich Stalin

"I know the drill. Smile, shake hands, and try not to call them cunts."

Portrayed By: Rupert Friend

"Play better, you clattering fannies!"

Stalin's drunken screwup of a son and senior officer in the Soviet Air Force.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: The comic doesn't play his ineptitude lightly, making clear he was responsible for the deaths of a lot of his subordinates through either trying to follow his impossible orders, or execution for being unable to follow said impossible orders. Zhukov's very first scene in the comic is demanding a court martial for all this, and that's not getting into his alcoholism-related depression. The film cuts these elements to make him more of a bumbling Cloud Cuckoo Lander with delusions of grandeur. Even Zhukov only flattens him when he makes an ass of himself at his father's funeral.
• Adaptational Dumbass: Vasily is a lot dumber and crazier here than he was in real life. It's curious that he's consistently portrayed as a failure when in reality he was a gifted pilot and officer.
• Advertised Extra: The trailer implies that he's at least somewhat of a player in the power struggle resulting from his father's death, while in the film itself he's fairly incidental and simply comic relief.
• The Alcoholic: Much of Vasily's strange impulsive behaviour can be explained by being highly intoxicated in almost every scene. Truth in Television, as he ultimately died at the age of 40 due to chronic alcoholism.
• Blatant Lies: Every time he tries to deny the accident that killed the national hockey team. Somewhat humorously, he actually wasn't responsible for it in Real Life; his rather haphazard attempts to cover it up nearly landed him in hot water, though.
• Boisterous Weakling: Threatens people constantly, but unlike his father, nobody cares to follow his orders.
• Butt-Monkey: As a consistent fuck-up, nobody but his sister likes him (and even she doesn't take him seriously). Pretty much everything he does results in a failure that is as humiliating as it is immediate.
• Captain Crash: Is somehow responsible for the death of the entire Soviet ice hockey team. In Real Life, he had no responsibility for the crash; it was his incompetent attempts to cover it up (it happened two weeks after his father's 70th birthday).
• Cloudcuckoolander: He's not really sane. For example, during his father's funeral, he barges into a room full of envoys and government officials and starts screaming about how hairy Soviet doctors have stolen his father's brain and shipped it off to "New York queers" who wear petticoats and suck off Zionists. (In reality, the doctors just cut his father's head open as part of the autopsy.)
• Conspiracy Theorist: He has a strange, and ironically fascistic, belief in 'Zionists' and 'New York queers' who are somehow in league with the Central Committee to open his dead father's head and fill it with American lies. Vasily is a strange, paranoid, unstable person (not unlike his father).
• Epic Fail: While being held down, Vasily unsuccessfully attempts to spit in the faces of his opponents, only to have his spit fall straight into his own hairline.
• Foreshadowing: Khrushchev tells Svetlana to leave the country for her own protection, but he won't allow Vasily to go with her because of his constantly spouting conspiracy theories and generally being an embarrassment to the Soviet Union; Svetlana fruitlessly argues that he is sick and will suffer without her to watch him. This foreshadows Vasily's early death from alcoholism, 9 years after the events of the movie.
• Incoming Ham: He announces his entrance to every scene he's in (bar one, where he's rehearsing his speech) by throwing a door open and shouting at the top of his lungs.
• Know When to Fold Them: Vasily promptly shuts up when Beria makes it plain he's fully aware of Vasily's role in the hockey team's demise.
  Vasily: I will not be silent-!
  Beria: I know about the hockey team. [Vasily shuts up]
• Large Ham: As hammy as he is deluded.
• Nepotism: Vasily exemplifies both aspects of this trope. On the one hand, he was a lazy student (though he actually did do well in flight school) who got promoted and publicly pampered due to his status as Overlord Jr.. On the other, he was a competent fighter pilot with two confirmed kills against the Germans who nevertheless was ostracized by the rest of his unit for the same reason (they assumed he was telling his father everything he heard or saw), and was pulled out of the front line after flying a mere handful of combat missions for sake of political liability before he could prove himself to the men whose respect he eagerly wished to earn. This did not help with his Daddy Issues.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: In the film, the air accident of the Soviet national ice hockey team; in Real Life, the air parade accident.
• Overlord Jr.: The son of a cruel and ruthless dictator. Ironically, he still loves his father and does what he can to protect his corpse from "American Lies" despite being a chew toy during his later years.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Svetlana, despite being the younger sibling, calls him a child after a Gilligan Cut. A child that tries again and again to grab a gun and fire it into a crowded room.
• Saying Too Much: When a message arrives to summon him to his father's dacha, he believes it's about the airplane crash and says aloud that it should never have taken off, and that he could not foresee an ice storm. The messenger asks if something happened to the hockey team, and Vasily quickly replies "nothing happened".
• Small Name, Big Ego: Vastly overestimates his importance due to his powerful father.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In case you're wondering, the airplane crash that killed the Soviet national hockey team didn't happen and neither does he have anything to do with that incident.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Despite his inebriation, upon seeing Marshall Zhukov in the room, Vasily instantly knows he’s about to be on the wrong end of an asskicking. He can only stutter "Medic!" before Zhukov puts him on the floor.
• Upper-Class Twit: Like his sister, he is the closest thing in Post-Tsarist Russia to what could be Soviet royalty, speaks with a posh accent, and generally has no clue about anything. He's a General in the Red Air Force at the age of 31, thanks to his parentage, but is as damaged as his father and generally sucks at life.
  Zhukov: You’re a fucking stain on that uniform, and you’d best fucking behave!
• Wimp Fight: A one-sided version. He's clearly not cut out for hand-to-hand combat; during the autopsy scene, he tries to snatch a firearm from the holster of a nearby guard to force everyone to go along with him, but is too weak to do so despite the fact that the guard, obviously not relishing the prospect of giving the son of Stalin a beating, is using only the bare minimum of effort needed to stop him. The result is an awkwardly long fumble that everyone present is forced to watch in embarrassment.

The Presidium

General Tropes

Central Committee

"Votes in favor! Carried... u... nanimously."

The highest-ranking leaders of the Soviet Union, or what's left of them after Stalin's purges, anyway. The protagonists of the film (and antagonist in the case of Beria), whose attempts to keep stability are interrupted by their plots to seize control.

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• Anyone Can Die: Or get demoted or imprisoned for the luckier ones. At the beginning of the film, Molotov is already on "the list" for no reason but Stalin's mood; at the end, Beria finds himself the victim of this, and the epilogue makes clear that the scheming and backstabbing continued through Khrushchev's rule until he was himself forcefully retired and replaced with Brezhnev. In real life, Mikoyan was the only one to avoid this and retire on his terms.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Make no mistake that Beria is utterly the evilest of the bunch, but he's right that the other six of them also have their fair share of atrocities they supported or committed.
• Decadent Court: Consisting of amoral yes-men only interested in self-preservation and gaining power, they are ready to backstab just about anyone, including their own family members.
• Dirty Communists: They make up Stalin's inner circle and enable his atrocities so long as they can keep their power and are not caught in the crossfire. Special mention goes to Beria, who's a serial rapist, on top of being the film's main antagonist.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Apart from Beria, that is. All of them are ruthless schemers willing to cause the deaths of innumerable others in order to survive the cut-throat world of Stalin's court and hopefully prosper within it. But they're all disgusted by Beria's sadism and sexual depravities. The former, in their eyes at least, is a case of I Did What I Had to Do, but the latter is just monstrous.
• Evil Is Petty: All of them hate the bishops of the Eastern Orthodox Church. While this is to be expected of communists, who are after all followers of an atheistic ideology who came to power in a nation where the Church was often an agent of oppression, they way they express this hatred evokes overgrown schoolchildren complaining about teachers and plotting childish little acts of rebellion.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Three of the seven—Beria, Kaganovich, and Mikoyan—are not ethnic Russians^notethey were Georgian, Jewish, and Armenian, respectively. Not surprising, since Stalin himself was a Georgian.
• False Friend: They pretend to be jovial friends around Stalin, but this is a complete farce and all of them know it; the only time they really work together is when it's time to shift blame to someone outside their circle, a task they accomplish with the smooth efficiency of long experience.
• King on His Deathbed: The plot is kickstarted by Stalin falling terminally ill.
• Multinational Team: Unlike other Western works, the film does make acknowledgements of the multinational nature of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev has a Ukrainian background, Beria is Georgian, and Mikoyan is Armenian.
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Almost EVERYONE in the Presidium is shown to hate the Russian Orthodox Church and its bishops to the point it's almost irrational and petty, and were very irritated when they found out Beria invited some of them to Stalin's funeral as a sign of goodwill. Partly justified by the fact they ARE atheistic and antitheistic Communists.
  Bulganin: Jesus Christ, it's the bishops.
  Kaganovich: I thought we'd banned those freaks.
  Molotov: Sneeze on the bastards as they go past!
• Professional Buttkisser: Every member goes to ridiculous lengths to please Stalin while he is alive, with the notable exception of Beria, as he has... well, other talents.
• Punch-Clock Villain: A dark variant of the trope. They're all amoral, power-hungry conniving backstabbers, true, but this is mostly because under Stalin, being an amoral conniving backstabber is pretty much a job requirement. The only one who actually enjoys doing evil instead of doing evil things to keep their jobs and avoid being purged is Beria.
• The Purge: What they are trying to avoid, while simultaneously trying to do one against each other. Beria, being the head of the NKVD, has committed more of these than the other six.
• The Remnant: Khrushchev brings up Tukhachevsky and others to Malenkov to point out that they're all that's left of the old Soviet guard, as Stalin and Beria have purged the rest.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: They pretend to be friends and agree on everything, but they barely hide their contempt and hate for each other.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: In real life, all of them had proverbial blood on their hands; the brutal campaigns and policies carried out by them and Stalin in the 1930s (collectvization and the Great Purge) had resulted in the deaths of approximately 10 million people collectively throughout the Soviet Union. ^noteThis number is also somewhat conservative in some circles who attribute the death toll of the Ukranian famine directly to Stalin. Also, there is a general consensus that the Great Purge's execution of the majority of military officers greatly contributed to the Nazis advance into Russia during the War, though how much this along with the general horrendous military policies, poor training, and severely lacking weaponry compared to the Germans makes it impossible to quantify the significance of this.Not helping is that behind the scenes, they constantly schemed behind each other’s backs for the sake of survival.
• We ARE Struggling Together: An extreme example. Even while they're simply reacting to Stalin's death and the funeral, they're already planning to seize power. Although all of them end up supporting Khrushchev against Beria, Khrushchev is quick to turn on Malenkov at the end to become the leader of the USSR.
• Yes-Man: This time, even Beria falls into the category, as Stalin wouldn't have anything else around.

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Moscow Committee

"I'm the peacemaker and I'll fuck up anyone who gets in my way."

Portrayed By: Steve Buscemi

"You are accused of treason and anti-Soviet behavior. The court finds you guilty and sentence you to be shot."

Member of the central committee, and one of Stalin's closest advisors.

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• Affably Evil:
  • He's a friendly, funny guy, but not a good man. While he's better than most of his colleagues, he's still willing to sacrifice plenty of innocent people in his scheming.
  • In private, while he is taken aback by the sheer scale of the death, he sees the massacre of wannabe funeralgoers by the NKVD less as the reprehensible atrocity it was and more as ammunition to use against Beria.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He's initially so bad at scheming that no one expects him to win the power struggle. And then he cold-bloodedly orders the trains to be restarted, knowing that thousands of mourners will come to Moscow and be gunned down by the NKVD, which will damage Beria's public image.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: He's the main representative of the "grey" side within the film. As a surviving member of the Soviet Politburo from between the 1930s-1950s, he's naturally ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to both survive and consolidate power, and consequently has no small share of atrocities and corruption to his name. However, he's not a completely amoral, sadistic and psychotic monster like Beria.
• Book Ends: His first conversation with Svetlana consists of trying to curry favour by assuring her safety, which just upsets her since she isn't aware of any danger. His last, after the coup, is him threatening her into accepting exile.

Khrushchev: This is how people get killed, when their stories don't fit. Safe travels.

• The Chessmaster: Khrushchev plays a pretty effective game of speed chess against Beria. The whole Presidium hates Beria, but no one will move against him without unanimity, so he corners them, one by one, and convinces each member that everyone else has already agreed to get rid of Beria. Only Malenkov continues to dither, so Kruschev proceeds with Beria's arrest anyway, trusting that Malenkov's spinelessness will prevent him from doing anything to stop them. At that point, Malenkov realises that Beria has to be executed or he'll come after all of them, so he quietly goes along with it.
• Court Jester: Part of the reason for his political success seems to be the fact that Stalin likes his jokes.
• Covers Always Lie: The "peacemaker" line, despite being featured as his Establishing Character Moment in the trailer, is absent from the final cut.
• Deadpan Snarker: Khrushchev is displayed as having a very dry sense of humor.
• Establishing Character Moment: On the morning after Stalin's seizure, Khrushchev is having his wife repeat back to him all of the jokes that were bandied around the night before, so he can remember which the Great Leader liked and which fell flat. He's a calculating and manipulative individual who's nowhere near as silly as he acts (and is a pretty good judge of character) but is willing to make himself look stupid in order to advance his goals and/or survive.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's no angel himself, but Khrushchev reads out Beria's charges of rape with barely disguised contempt and disgust towards his despicable actions. It's one of the few times in the entire film that we see him genuinely pissed.
  • In a deleted scene, he swoops in to ask a maid at Stalin's dacha to "take something to his car" as Beria chats with her, even giving Beria a Death Glare.
  • Downplayed with regards to the NKVD massacre of mourners, which he didn't exactly orchestrate but certainly set the pieces up for; while he's not exactly overcome with regret and remorse over what happened, he is clearly somewhat taken aback by the sheer scale of the atrocity, suggesting that his ruthlessness doesn't extend to simple bloodthirstiness and has its limits.
• The Everyman: He dresses in a typical business suit, loves his wife, and wants to protect Svetlana and to soften the Soviet dictatorship, both for seemingly altruistic reasons.
• The Funny Guy: While Stalin is alive, he tries to ingratiate himself with him by acting like a standup comedian. This façade drops a lot after his death; afterward, his humor is much more measured and sharp.
• Good Is Not Nice: His exiling of Svetlana. By getting her as far away from Moscow as possible, he's ensuring her safety. However, his attitude in the moment is notably cold and inflexible.^noteNot to mention that, by getting her out of the country, he's free to continue consolidating his power.
• Good Is Not Soft: He's not really even that good at all, but his attempts to bring down Beria and reform the USSR require some major questionable actions on his part to avoid a worse dictatorship.
• Happily Married: Implied. From what little is seen of him interacting with his wife, they seem to get along quite well.
• Historical In-Joke: Shouts "I will bury you!" as Beria's dead body is being cremated, a nod to Khrushchev's infamous statement to Western diplomats in 1956. He immediately follows it up with "In history!" a nod to the quote's intended context, and then follows it up with an increasingly incoherent and vitriolic torrent of profanity and increasingly lame insults.
• Historical Beauty Update: Downplayed, but Krushchev was a very rotund man in real life. Nothing short of a distracting fat suit can make the noticeably skinny Steve Buscemi match that.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: While he's certainly not depicted as a good guy, except in the sense of being the least bad of the Politburo, he does get depicted as more consistently likeable than he actually was. The real Khrushchev was a jovial man, but also a notorious Mood-Swinger who had angry, threatening outbursts. They were so infamous that Brezhnev used them to help justify his seizure of power, claiming they were a sign that Khrushchev couldn't be trusted to continue leading the country. In this movie, he only loses his temper twice. When he rants at Beria for his many horrible crimes during the latter's "trial" and execution. Then finally, when victory is within his grasp and his exasperation with Svetlana's naivety reaches boiling point.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The responsibility for the casualties at Stalin's funeral is placed squarely on Khrushchev, who is depicted as ordering the barriers removed with the knowledge that people will die and it will make Beria look bad. In addition, the number of dead is multiplied by more than ten (at least according to Khrushchev's account of the event, anyway). At least the film shows Khrushchev being briefly appalled by that number of casualties.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Unlike Beria, who takes a sadistic glee in causing pain to others, Khrushchev seems to view the many horrible things he does and has previously had to do as simply the cost of doing business in the Soviet Union under Stalin. He isn't exactly overcome with regret and remorse at, say, setting up hundreds of innocent people to be gunned down by the NKVD, but he didn't go out of his way to bring death and misery to them either; to him, it's just a necessary sacrifice to prevent something worse from happening. Whether this was true to real life is, of course, a matter of debate.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Khrushchev isn't, and wasn't, a good person. Beria reminds him just how many people he's had killed at Stalin's behest as well. However, unlike Beria who openly revels in his depravity and cruelty, Khrushchev regards his own crimes as a regrettable, but necessary evil, and his rule of the Soviet Union would relax considerably on things like purges. Finally, the rest of the Politburo are so horrible, moronic, or both that the audience winds up rooting for Khrushchev almost by default. When governing the Soviet Union, he tries to make its government less keen on mass murder and purges.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Khrushchev had the grace to look appalled when he heared over 1,500 mourners died when the NKVD troops open fired on them in a panic, a state of affairs which he himself engineered in order make Beria look bad by allowing the mourners to pour into Moscow, knowing Beria's inexperienced troops would screw up and cause casualties.
• The Needs of the Many: Khrushchev willingly sacrifices several innocent mourners (eventually hundreds) in order to get rid of Beria.
• Never My Fault: Zig-Zagged.
  • He's quick to place the blame of the massacre of Stalin's mourners onto Beria and willing to use the tragedy to outmaneuver him, though a number of scenes make it clear that he's ashamed of it and might even regret having acted so rashly.
  • When the coup is underway and he needs to sway Malenkov, Khrushchev states that the planned coup was Zhukov's idea rather than his own.
    • He does this several times earlier in the film, when talking to others such as when talking to Molotov in Molotov's apartment and claims the idea of out-voting Beria at the Committee was Bulganin's idea!
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Hardly anybody takes him seriously at first, but he turns out to be quite the cunning and ruthless schemer. The fact that he ends up on top in the power struggle shows that taking him lightly is not a good idea.
• Oh, Crap!: A brief example. In the opening scenes, when entertaining the Politburo with his anecdote about the war, he briefly brings up a man call Polnikov — only to visibly remember just a second too late that Polnikov has since been "unpersoned", making it unwise to bring him up around Stalin. Fortunately for him, Stalin is somewhat distracted at the time and so doesn't really register it, enabling Khrushchev to just brush past the faux pas and pretend it never happened.
• Only Sane Man: Barely. While he's as corrupt and cowardly as the other Politburo members, he's one of the few who knows what he's doing and understands the dangers of letting a monster like Beria take over the Soviet Union. He also generally seems a bit more endowed with basic common sense than some of his colleagues; witness, for example, how flabbergasted he is at Malenkov's insistence that they need a quorum to agree upon whether or not Stalin requires the services of a doctor when Stalin is literally lying catatonic by their feet on the floor in a pool of his own piss.
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: He is very outspoken about his atheism and his contempt for Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church, a sentiment many of his fellow Presidium members shared. Justified in that he's a Communist, who are all ideologically this by default.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: He basically invokes this in an argument with Malenkov, to get the latter to stop suicidally farting around and agree to a Kangaroo Court that will surely see Beria executed. He shoots down Malenkov's whimpering that Beria should have a fair trial by bringing up a couple prominent communist figures whom the NKVD put through farce trials in Real Life, not least Grigory Sokolnikov (whose execution was personally ordered by Beria in real life, and who Krushchev claims in the film was forced by Beria to watch his own elderly mother being strangled to death after he pled for her life). Whilst Khrushchev and the rest of the Soviet Central Committee are very much amoral and evil men themselves, they're still A Lighter Shade of Black, who don't revel in raping underage girls and torturing others purely for the sake of sadism like Beria does.
• Pet the Dog: In a deleted scene, when he sees Beria creeping all over a maid at Stalin's dacha, he swiftly cuts in and politely asks her to put his pyjamas in his car, giving her an excuse to get away from being sexually harassed.
• Punch-Clock Villain: When he tells Svetlana that she's being sent away for her own safety because if she sticks around he will have to get rid of her. His voice carries a resigned sadness that he knows she will just be the first of many.
• Pyjama-Clad Hero: Turns up to Stalin's dacha wearing his suit over his pajamas; he's that anxious to be on the spot.
  I act, Lavrentiy! Decisively and with great speed!
• Rage Breaking Point: What the indignity of being assigned to oversee Stalin's funeral seems to be for him. 1500 people die because of it.
• Running Gag: People making note or joking about his bald head.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: He is played by Steve Buscemi, so it comes with the territory.
  "Our General Secretary is lying in a puddle of his own indignity!"
• Villain Protagonist: As has been stated, he is not a good person and has a lot of blood on his hands. He takes the protagonist role mostly because a) he's the best option out of a very bad lot, and b)historically speaking, he ended up winning the backstabbing contest to become Stalin's successor.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Hero is a misnomer, but otherwise Khrushchev is on both the receiving and dishing out end.
  • Marshal Zhukov was outraged when he heard that Khrushchev allowed the trains to run again even knowing that the KGB troops don't know how to handle that many marchers, all so he could discredit Beria when they inevitably screw things up and cause casualties. Unsurprising considering Zhukov is considered something of a man of the people, and the incident lead to 1,500 deaths.
  Marshal Zhukov: What the FUCK were you thinking?!
  Nikta Khrushchev: I don't know, okay, but I did it.
  • During the Coup, when Malenkov dithered at signing a critical document condemning Beria and insisted Beria should receive a 'fair trial', Khrushchev in a rage called him out indirectly for his spinelessness by reminding him how many of their fellow Bolsheviks had died (some in rather horrible ways) thanks to Beria - all without fair trial - telling him that with all that and their coup it is simply too late for him to receive one, before browbeating him back into getting on with the coup.
  Malenkov: No, he deserves a fair trial! He's one of us!
  Khrushchev: What about Tukhachevsky? And Pyatakov? Did they get a trial? What about Sokolnikov, who begged him to look after his elderly mother and what did this monster do? He strangled her in front of him! It's too late. The only choice we have is between his death or his revenge. [Shoves the paper and pen to him] And you will FUCKING sign this.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Is creeped out when Molotov praises Khruschev for the massacre of Stalin's mourners as an intentional realpolitik maneuver by Khruschev to scapegoat and remove Beria.
  Khrushchev: Yes, Beria is the monster.

Lavrentiy Beria

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, Minister of Internal Affairs

"Shoot her before him, but make sure he sees it. Oh, and this one... um... kill him, take him to his church, dump him in the pulpit. And I'll leave the rest up to you."

Portrayed By: Simon Russell Beale

"It's time all of you realised who kept the daggers out of your backs. Show some fucking respect."

Head of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's spy network.

---

• Age Lift: Downplayed. Beria was born in 1899 and was actually one of the youngest members of the committee, yet looks like one of the oldest in the movie; however, Simon Russell Beale was 55 years old during filming, while Beria was 54 when he was executed, and the resemblance is pretty close◊.
• Asshole Victim: Deconstructed. Although his execution is richly deserved, it rings a little hollow when you realise that everyone who played a part in condemning him has committed some pretty nasty crimes in their past (and Beria is very quick to point this out). During his "trial", it becomes very clear that although they do consider him morally reprehensible, justice comes a very distant second to murdering Beria because he's a threat to the others' power.
• Bad Boss: His employees aren't safe from his sadistic tendencies. He had a person executed for stuttering.
• Big Bad: His and Khrushchev's attempts to outplay one another for power makes up the film.
• Bullying a Dragon: Though the Committee are all powerful and dangerous people, Beria manages to wrestle them into line with a combination of blackmail and political machinations. Pressing too hard on them with threat of force, however, ends up with a Blackmail Backfire and leaves him with too many enemies who want him dead. Similarily him getting under Zhukov's skin and muscling in on the army's jurisdiction turns them against him as well.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Beria has no illusions whatsoever about what a depraved monster he is.
• The Comically Serious: Beria is one of the most serious-minded characters in the film and the greatest threat, and at times the film uses that for comedy. When Khrushchev first discovers Stalin and is mourning, Malenkov pulls him into a hug and then makes an awkward Beria join them in the group hug.
• Conspiracy Theorist: One of the few examples that is both exploited by the character and Played for Drama. If he wants someone gone, he'll craft a story that makes them look like conspirators against the Soviet Union. He doesn't actually believe these stories, but he doesn't have to, because Stalin doesn't care about anyone's innocence and Beria knows it. As long as he can come up with a reason to put in the paperwork, he can have basically anyone short of Stalin's immediate family or inner circle killed whenever he wants (and even for the Presidium, he just needs to wait until Stalin gets tired of them before acting), something he exploits ruthlessly.
• Cruel Mercy: One of the only ordinary people who gets out of Stalin's dacha alive is an underage maid, who Beria "saves" in order to rape.
• Death by Irony: His blackmailing and Jerkass attitude succeeds in turning the rest of the Central Committee and the Red Army to Khrushchev's side. His united enemies then subject him to Kangaroo Court, another thing he was known for in Stalin's purges, which results in his execution.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Despite being the notoriously brutal and sadistic head of the N.K.V.D., he kickstarts a round of liberalization (albeit he stole the idea from Khrushchev) by halting executions and releasing prisoners like Polina Molotova... solely because it will make him look good and help secure his own power.
• Dirty Coward: Beria happily doled out executions and sham trials on countless innocent people, but when this gets flipped on him, he breaks down into a sobbing wreck and spends his last moments pathetically begging for his life. The film actually toned this down from real life, where Beria was weeping so hard, the executioner stuffed a cloth in his mouth before shooting him. Also, he goes into white-faced terror when Stalin briefly resuscitates. This incident was also toned down from real life; Beria dropped to his knees and kissed Stalin's hand when Stalin briefly regained consciousness, but when he finally expired, Beria immediately stood and spat.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He has one of his minions executed for stuttering.
• The Dragon: What he was to Stalin. In real life, Stalin would even refer to him as "My Himmler", who was The Dragon to Adolf Hitler in the Third Reich.
• Dragon Ascendant: He tried to become this following Stalin's death, using Malenkov as his puppet. It leads to a glorious Oh, Crap! moment when Beria sets the wheels in motion for his own power play, only to find out Stalin is Not Quite Dead. It's brief, as Stalin dies for real minutes later.
• Dragon-in-Chief: While Malenkov is provisional leader following Stalin's death, Beria is the true power behind him. This is underscored when he disposes of some incriminating lists, then sits down at Stalin's desk.
• Due to the Dead: Subverted by him and on him. He treats those he killed with zero respect and even rubbed it in their dead faces with all sorts of macrebre post-death humiliations (like ordering to have an executed priest's body be put in the pulprit of his own church for his flock to find), and only pretended to show any respect to Stalin at his funeral in order to look good and help secure his position in the ensuring power struggle where previously he gloated to a comatosed Stalin about taking over. When he himself is eventually ousted and given an Undignified Death, the other members of the Presidium sans Malenkov take turns to desecrate his body, before they and Zhukov cremate his corpse in a ditch via gasoline and a cigarette light.
  Presidium Member: (Kicks body) Fuck off back to Georgia, dead boy!
  Nikita Khrushchev: (As dead Beria is cremated) You smell like rendered horse, you... you burning asshole!
• The Dreaded: Being the head spymaster in Soviet Russia will make you this. Unfortunately for him, he ends up being more hated than feared, leading to The Purge circling right around to claim him. In real life, even Stalin was wary of him, once devolving into genuine panic upon learning that Svetlana was at his house alone and immediately called and told her to leave at once. Fortunately for Svetlana, Beria was not stupid enough to try anything with the boss's daughter.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: His Villainous Breakdown following the funeral massacre is this all over, as he demands the gratitude of the other members of the Central Committee for all his years of hard work.
• Entitled Bastard: He has the nerve to demand his own rights be respected, despite the fact he has violated (in some cases literally) the rights of others. And while in the midst of his Villainous Breakdown, he screams about how the rest of the Politburo ought to respect and love him simply for not having them killed.
• Even Evil Has Standards: This may come as a surprise given that he's almost always the one too evil for the others to tolerate, but it is so, if only briefly; when he's going over a new list with Stalin, he asks about what to do with an unlucky writer's wife, to which Stalin replies with a grin and the quip "Well, they're a couple, aren't they?" Beria is momentarily taken aback by the order to kill a woman who has done nothing wrong even by the NKVD's stunningly low bar for what constitutes "wrong", but ultimately he walks off to order the lists fulfilled.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • At one point, he has a minion disgraced and executed for stuttering.
  • He boasts to Malenkov that he likes to literally piss on low-ranking Soviet officers.
  • When signing orders for arrests and executions at one point he says to shoot a man's wife in front of him and make sure he sees it.
• Evil Old Folks: The only member of the Committee with full white hair, and the most despicable.
• Face Death with Despair: Spends his last moments as he is read his charges by a Kangaroo Court and about to be executed begging for his life. In real life, it got so bad that his executioners shoved a sock in his mouth to shut him up.
• Fat Bastard: He's morbidly obese and the most reprehensible character in the film. The last-known photo of Beria at a Red Square parade confirms that he packed on quite a bit of weight since World War II; he was relatively lean in the 1930s.
• Faux Affably Evil: Beria comes as polite and sympathetic to Svetlana and occasionally to the other Politburo members, but it is nothing more but a mask for a power-hungry hangman who tries to use her favor for his own gains.
• Forced to Watch: He is fond of ordering wives to be raped and murdered next to their powerless husbands before having them killed, even if he isn't there to see it.
• For the Evulz: He has a sadistic love for killing anyone at any moment in the cruelest ways possible and humiliate (or even execute) his minions for petty reasons, and sometimes clearly he just does what he does for any other reason than simply because he can.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Beria is the only prominent character in the movie who wears glasses most of the time (aside from Malenkov) and he is definitely the most villainous member of the cast.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: His entire attempt to seize power.
  • Replacing the Army in Moscow with the NKVD pushes the Army into his enemies' camp, and makes the NKVD (and himself as a result) look bad when it falls to them to stop the waves of Stalin mourners from entering the capital.
  • Stalling Molotov's execution, saving his wife and seemingly bringing her Back from the Dead, fails absolutely to ingratiate himself with him. Much to his surprise (and the audience), Molotov is such a hardcore Stalinist enthusiast that he had accepted his wife's disappearance wholeheartedly, and would have walked happily into his own execution if Stalin approved it. As a result, he feels not a single ounce of gratitude for Beria and sides with Khrushchev.
  • Railroading Khrushchev into directing Stalin's funeral, then "boycotting" it by sealing the city to mourners from outside Moscow, and inviting the bishops to assist. The first one made Beria and the NKVD look bad when Khrushchev told the Army to let the mourners come and they overhelmed the NKVD guarding the city, leading to Beria's Villainous Breakdown while Khrushchev came out unscathed. The second was only minded by Khrushchev.
  • His seizure of compromising papers from Stalin's office and waving them at the rest of the Politburo during his first Villainous Breakdown. Rather than making the others back him out of fear, it convinced those still in doubt to back Khrushchev against Beria, precisely out of fear that Beria would condemn them if given absolute power.
• Hate Sink: He's almost certainly the most vile, depraved character ever to feature in an Armando Iannucci production. He is a mass-murdering sadistic serial rapist without a single redeeming or likeable quality to his name.
• He Knows Too Much: Aside from general unpleasantness, Beria presents a major danger to Politburo by the fact that he is a head of Secret Police and has damaging information on all of them, which he can use at any moment to eliminate his opponents. When Malenkov refuses to give Beria a Kangaroo Court, Khrushchev points out that it's too late to leave Beria alive, since if they don't get rid of Beria soon, he will go for the rest of Politburo in revenge.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: Iannucci admitted that he had to downplay Beria's sexual crimes to make him more believable to the audience. Let that sink in a moment. Beria's glee at Stalin's death is also toned down: whilst he's portrayed as not even bothering with a facade of grief, the real Beria openly celebrated when he heard the Premier was dying and gloated over his corpse, later bragging to the rest of the Presidium that he killed Stalin and showing up to his funeral drunk to deliver an upbeat and unflattering eulogy.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Beria removes Molotov from the hit list and releases his imprisoned wife Polina, hoping to earn his favor in his bid for power. Instead, he ends up providing Khrushchev with a crucial ally in the coup, and his freeing Polina only incenses and motivates Molotov to join the coup (Molotov views Polina's prosecution as Stalin's will, and as he is unwaveringly loyal to Stalin, he sees Beria's freeing of her as direct defiance against Stalin.)
• Humiliation Conga: On the receiving end of a cathartic one after getting away with so many other crimes on- and off-screen: He is denounced and removed by the politburo and arrested in a coup spearheaded by Khrushev and Zhukov, and abandoned by his subordinates who ran or surrendered without a fight; he's beaten up, had his pants pulled down, dragged through and out the Kremlin, and briefly found himself handcuffed in a lavatory; he is eventually subjected to a Kangaroo Court in a barn, where he's quickly found guilty and sentenced to death for many real and trumped up charges, and finally receives an Undignified Death when a nondescript conscript shot him in the head with a pistol by accident while they were still dragging him out into the open be executed. All the while, Beria goes from being shocked and outraged, to being furious and defiant, to desperately trying to excuse himself or going deathly silent, and to finally crying and begging for his miserable life to be spared from his well-deserved death.
  Beria: (after being chained to a toilet) This is magisterial enough for you all..? This charade? This is a lavatory!
  Mikoyan: Well you should feel at home, shouldn't you, you little coil of shit?
• Hypocrite: He spends most of his show trial shouting about his rights. The same rights he's denied to countless others. However...
• Hypocrite Has a Point: While he himself denied their rights to thousands upon thousands of people and committed serious crimes, he still rightfully points out that he's victim of a sham trial led by corrupt criminals who are little morally better than he is and so are in no position to judge him.
• I Have Your Wife:
  • Beria uses Molotov's wife to toy with his emotions, but it falls surprisingly flat.
  • Averted with Svetlana and her first love Aleksei Kapler, who is portrayed as being dead and thus beyond return even for Beria.
• It's All About Me: He very clearly doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but himself and will sell out anyone he has to to save himself or increase his power.
• Kangaroo Court: His "trial" is reduced to a list of charges and a death sentence being read, then followed by his immediate execution. It all lasts a few minutes, it takes place in a barn, and he is surrounded entirely by people who want to kill him. Not that he didn't completely deserve it.
• Karmic Death: He is subjected to a Kangaroo Court and executed the moment he stops being useful and starts being dangerous, just like many of his victims; also, most of the people we see executed on screen at least die in a marginally more dignified manner than he does.
• Kick the Dog: Beria always went the extra mile for cruelty. When handing out the lists to his subordinates, he gives a few pointers on how to really drive the deaths home; ordering the death of a couple and specifying to kill the wife in front of the husband first ("make sure he sees it"). In the end, Khrushchev reads out his crimes, noting the hundreds of rapes and what he did to some of their former colleagues.
  • He also has the messenger sent to notify him of Stalin's collapse arrested and by implication executed, and takes the time to mock his slight stutter before he leaves.
  Khruschev: "And what about Sokolnikov, who begged him to look after his elderly mother, and what does that monster do? He strangled her in front of him!"
• Lack of Empathy: To a positively frightening degree. Beria is completely without empathy, compassion, mercy, restraint or ethics and gleefully engages in torture, rape and murder of innocent people, including children, without the slightest hint of hesitation or remorse.
• Machiavelli Was Wrong: He'll never be feared and loved at the same time, so he clearly believes it's better to be feared — and he's got that part down to an art. Unfortunately for him, he's feared and hated by everyone instead — meaning that everyone won't hesitate to join forces to bring him down when he goes too far with the threats and his equally conniving boss isn't there to bail him out. His ultimate downfall comes when, in the midst of a meltdown, he screams about how he deserves to be feared and loved by the rest of the Politburo for "keeping the fucking daggers out of your backs!"
• Manipulative Bastard: Spends most of the movie throwing people's words back in their faces, and unsubtly reminding them he could have them taken out and shot at any moment. But his crowning moment is bringing Molotov's wife Back from the Dead, whom he had long since denounced, purely to manipulate him.
• Mean Boss: Beria will never miss an opportunity to piss on his subordinates (sometimes literally, according to him).
• Moral Myopia: Despite being both the mastermind (and, in some cases, direct perpetrator) of the torture and murder of countless thousands of innocent people, as well as the entire Gulag system for much of Stalin's reign, and a serial rapist/killer of countless hundreds of women and girls, Beria is absolutely incensed at the mere implication that he is responsible for any wrongdoing. In the aftermath of the funeral massacre, he throws a furious tantrum and lists the (far less severe) crimes of the other Soviet leaders while tearfully demanding their respect and gratitude for not exposing their shady pasts. This is seen again in his show trial where he shrieks about how they are all gangsters and tyrants who have no right to judge him (in between begging them not to kill him).
• Oh, Crap!: He goes from angrily insulting everyone to Stunned Silence to begging for his life once he realizes that the Politburo is also judging him for rape and pedophilia, something he is very guilty of.
• The Omniscient: Played for Drama. Beria knows everything that everyone is guilty of, and will spout them to their faces to make them comply (e.g. telling Vasily "I know about the hockey team" and Yudina "I know about the note"). If he doesn't, he knows of any spurious connection to anyone hiding something (e.g. threatening Khrushchev to accuse him of Stalin's murder because Yudina gave piano lessons to his niece), which in the Soviet Union is still enough to threaten someone with execution.
• Pet the Dog: Has a few, very minor examples; after Malenkov makes the mistake of mentioning Polnikov in front of Stalin, Beria distracts him by pranking Khrushchev, which may well have saved Malenkov's life. He also gives Svetlana some sincere advice warning her of the unstable political situation she's in.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He tries to institute reforms that the Soviet Union needs, which includes freeing prisoners and stopping the executions. However, it's made clear he's not doing this out of altruism, but because he wants to earn good publicity so he can gain power for himself.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: At his execution, the rest of the Politburo throw in his face just how many women and kids he's sexually abused over the years; it's clear that even to them, he was beyond the pale.
• Sadist: Nothing gives Beria more pleasure than his horrific torture, rape and murder of people and knowing they can do nothing to stop him. He doesn't even seem all that interested in power except as a way to keep doing what he wants and getting away with it.
• Sanity Has Advantages: A sane mind might've taken the out the rest of the Politburo were offering him, shifting all of the blame onto his subordinates even if he takes a hit in the ongoing power struggle. Khrushchev, after all, has come back from worse hits over the course of the film. But Beria is a brittle psychopath, and when he gets hit, he shatters, going into a hateful and vindictive Villainous Breakdown that cements the rest of the Politburo's plans to align with Khrushchev and kill him before he kills them, if for no other reason than their own self-preservation. Beria is a known killer who's just demonstrated instability and poor impulse control; him potentially becoming Shadow Dictator has just been cemented as a possibility they have to prevent or die.
• The Scapegoat: Amazingly enough, the Villain Has a Point when Beria says that he may be the vile member of the Presidium, but Khruschev and the others are deluding themselves if they believe that by getting rid of him they are somehow expiating their own sins committed while trying to survive or rise to power under Stalin's rule.
• Serial Rapist: The biggest indicator that he's the most loathsome character in the cast is that he used his position to rape women and children. In real life, there was evidence that he also murdered some victims and buried them in his yard, which makes it likely that he was also a serial killer.
  • In real life, Beria kept a detailed list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of his victims. Shortly before the events of the movie, he had added the list to the charges against Nikolai Vlasik, the former head of Stalin's bodyguard detail who had been arrested on trumped-up charges as part of the Doctors' Plot purge, just in case his predations bit him in the ass. Though he was officially pardoned and released in 1956, Vlasik's name wouldn't be cleared of the hundreds of rape charges until long after his death.
• Shoot the Messenger: Has the officer who informs him of Stalin's deathly condition tortured and executed.
• Smug Snake: A man of no morals and no integrity, he holds everyone in similar contempt. And it comes back to bite him in the ass, big time.
• The Sociopath: Any time Beria is shown being kind or merciful, it's only to secure his own power. He is a man with absolutely no morals or boundaries and beyond any positive human traits.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: He never raises his voice when carrying out his various "activities" and the effect is absolutely chilling.
• Spies Are Despicable: The head of Stalin's secret police, Beria is a sociopathic Serial Rapist who tortures and kills prisoners with sadistic relish, and enjoys being a Troll and Jerkass toward the other Politburo members.
• Spy Master: As a head of NKVD, his position allows him to conduct espionage and state security that also included ones that would further his goals.
• The Starscream: The only member of the Politburo who was not a Professional Buttkisser to Stalin. The moment Stalin becomes ill, he stars plotting how to succeed him and banks on his death rather than seeking medical attention. This is why Stalin's return to consciousness is such an Oh, Crap! moment to him, and the moment he shows the most vulnerability before his Villainous Breakdown at the Funeral.
  • Stalin was at least somewhat aware of this, and had already ordered Beria's staff to "send me everything this asshole writes down" a few weeks before he died. Whether he had leverage to keep his rabid dog in line or another Klingon Promotion in mind is a topic of speculation.
• Torture Technician: Beria is shown to personally beat one of the NKVD's prisoners.
• Troll: One of the darkest examples ever seen in fiction. Khrushchev is lucky that he only uses a tomato to prank him.
• Undignified Death: Punched and chained in a bathroom, subjected to a Kangaroo Court lasting a few hours (if at all), taken out and shot in the head whilst begging for his life, then dumped in a back lot and set on fire. Did we mention how much nobody liked this guy? ^note In Real Life he was also stripped down to his underwear before his death and the executioner shoved a sock in his mouth because he was fed up with all the sobbing and begging.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • He has a minor one when it looks like Stalin will survive after he's started to implement his plans to secure power, but Stalin's subsequent death saves him.
  • He later has a full-blown explosion of rage when the rest of the Politburo all consider shifting blame to the NKVD, essentially meaning he's the scapegoat. He abandons all his more affable mannerisms and screams with indignant fury at the Politburo for their lack of gratitude and lambasts them for being so judgmental of him despite all of them having blood on their hands too. This ultimately dooms him; even when he recomposes himself, his tantrum demonstrated he had too much dirt on the others for them to let him live.
    Beria: All of you! ALL OF YOU! I have documents on ALL OF YOU! I've seen what you've done! I know the truth! It's all written down! It's all written down on a very-a very FUCKING LONG LIST!
  • His final moments during the show trial count as well, as he loses any semblance of composure and is reduced to screaming impotent threats and accusations intermixed with pathetic sobbing and desperate begging for his life. In particular, it's when the Politburo reveal that they're also going to be using his sexual crimes against him that he just snaps; up until that point, he's snarling and defiant thanks to having a point that none of his accusers have much room to judge him when it comes to politically-motivated murder, but unfortunately for him all of them have managed to draw the line at raping and murdering underage girls. After that, barring one outburst, he remains mostly quiet for a moment before begging for his life as he is dragged out to be summarily shot. Remarkably, this is actually downplayed from real life where Beria's pleading was so desperate that guards stuffed a sock in his mouth just to shut him up.
• Villain Has a Point: Sure, Svetlana is very wise to not trust Beria. But as he points out, she should trust absolutely no one in the Politburo to keep her interests in mind, foreshadowing Kruschev's exiling of Svetlana at the end. He's also right to point out that the rest of the Politburo had no moral high ground to claim when they all blood on their own hands during his "trial".
• Villains Want Mercy: During his final Villainous Breakdown, he's reduced to begging for his life when the other Politburo members are about to execute him.
  "NO! NO PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME! DON'T HURT ME!"
• Villain with Good Publicity: Zigzagged. He is rightfully seen as The Dreaded by anyone in government, and civilians consider him terrifying for being head of the secret police. However, after Stalin dies, he succeeds in presenting himself to the public as a reformist and more honorable than he is, if Svetlana and Yudina's reactions are an indication. In real life, "coffee with Beria" was commonly used as a euphemism for someone being kidnapped and executed by the state.
• Would Hurt a Child: He has a proclivity for raping children.

Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, Minister of Foreign Affairs

"Stalin would be loving this."

Portrayed By: Michael Palin

"This is what Stalin would have wanted. The Committee as one."

Foreign Minister of the USSR.

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• Adaptational Wimp: To the point of being Molotov In Name Only. The real Molotov was an icy, no-nonsense man whose diplomacy skills were so effective and cutthroat that Winston Churchill openly regarded him as a Worthy Opponent^*When Molotov made a diplomatic visit to Germany prior to Barbarossa, he interrupted and verbally one-upped Hitler so many times that the dictator (whom had never been talked to like that before) refused to speak to him again out of wounded pride; and he knew damned well that he had fallen out of favor with Stalin by the time the Man of Steel had died.
• Affably Evil: A very cheerful and personable man and one of the only characters who makes it through the movie with a clean mouth^note (Well, mostly clean mouth — it's just about possible to hear him call Beria a "fucking rapist" amidst all the commotion in Beria's show trial), but if the leader were to say you are going to the Gulag, he'd just wave bye at you with a smile. He also threw his own wife under the bus to save his own skin... or out of blind Stalinism, which is just as bad.
• Blind Obedience: Molotov is unquestioningly loyal to the party, and he sees Stalin and the party as one and the same. When informed by Khrushchev that he was on Stalin's list for execution, Molotov can only conclude that he must have grievously wronged him somehow, and his first thought has to do with what on Earth he might have done wrong instead of how to escape the USSR or get back at Beria. Even after Beria returns Molotov's wife Polina to him, to his joy and relief, he still has trouble letting go of the narrative that she was a traitor to the party.
• Cool Old Guy: The member of the Politburo that comes across most like this. Though it is obvious that he wouldn't have made it into the Politburo if he didn't have other skills.^note The real Molotov signed hundreds of death lists during the Great Purge. Note that's not hundreds of death warrants, each one for one person; it's hundreds of death lists, each containing many names.
• The Dog Bites Back: After being manipulated and abused by Beria, he secretly agrees to support Khrushchev’s coup against him.
• The Fundamentalist: A weird example in that his faith is in Stalin rather than God. It's what enables him to be completely, 100% certain that his wife was a filthy traitor who deserves to rot in the gulag, and at the same time 100% delighted that she's been "forgiven" and is back home with him again. In his mind, there's no contradiction at all. (It could be that he's so used to putting up a front of being a loyal party member that it's a case of Becoming the Mask.)
• The Funny Guy: Slips into this after Stalin dies, although it is unclear how much of this is intentional on his part.
• Hidden Depths: Despite coming across as a Cloud Cuckoolander, he does plot with Khrushchev and Kaganovich only inside his car and with a barking dog to disguise their words. He might be more of a political animal than he lets on.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: The real Molotov was a very serious man. His cheerful grandpa movie persona is mostly Palin's.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Molotov was not nearly so insulting towards his wife; he mourned her during the years she was in captivity and was overjoyed to have her back, although it is hinted he's hiding his true feelings under pressure (in the script it's noted that it's clear he still loves her when he sees her again).
• It's All My Fault: When he hears he was on Stalin's list he talks as though it must be something he did rather than revealing so much as an ounce of resent towards Stalin or Beria for it - the latter, at least, until the scheming starts.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: There are some hints that his wide-eyed devotion to all things Stalin is at least partially a front masking a far more savvy and ruthless political operator than he appears to be; he did, after all, survive over thirty years of being a high-ranked member of Stalin's government. This is made clearer in the original graphic novel.
• Serendipitous Survival: Molotov is a dead man walking at the start of the film, as Beria reveals he's landed on one of Stalin's lists and is headed for either death or exile. Stalin dropping dead spares him.
• Stealing the Credit: As Beria's body is burning, he pats himself on the back, declaring, "Old Molotov's still got some scheming in him!" as if he masterminded the coup, rather than Khruschev.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Seems to have convinced himself the Soviet Union is operating under pure Marxist lines and that Stalin should be honored by the Presidium, but doesn't seem aware that typical power-hungry attitudes are prevalent before him. As far as we can see, anyway...

Georgy Malenkov

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

"If you could do me a favour and just nod as I'm speaking. People are looking to me for reassurance and I have no idea what is going on."

Portrayed By: Jeffrey Tambor

"I'm going to tell you who's going to be blamed. I am going to be blamed. This shit sack is going to be blamed."

Stalin's deputy. He becomes the provisional leader after his death.

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• Adaptational Wimp: While the real Malenkov was considered a weak leader, he wasn't completely inept. Foreign dignitaries noted that he was a more charming conversationalist than Khrushchev; he was just as willing (and able) to get blood on his hands as the rest of Stalin's inner circle, and he was hardly blind to Beria's attempts to use him as a puppet, but seeing as he was largely reliant on Beria's support to stay in power, there was little he could do about it. In the graphic novel, Malenkov cheerfully ascends to the position of General Secretary with Beria's backing, but does not hesitate to go along with Khruschev's coup when the latter points out how easily Beria can dispose of him.
• Bad Liar: Everything he says comes across as Blatant Lies... his claims of being leader of the USSR, his denial that Beria is manipulating him, and his belief of the Doctors' Plot. What's worse is that he is probably believing his own lies (and being the only one who does).
• By "No", I Mean "Yes": Spends most of the movie catching the eye of either Beria or Khrushchev to tell him what to say.
  "When I said "No problem", what I meant was, "No. Problem." ...Ignore me."
• Bully and Wimp Pairing: The wimp to Stalin's and later Beria's bully.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Everything he says falls horribly, horribly flat.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Khruschev tells a story about forcing German POWs to play hot-potato with live hand grenades, Malenkov asks what the "grenade" was.
• Dirty Coward: While none of Stalin's inner circle are exactly gifted with an abundance of bravery, he might be the worst in this respect at least. He's weak-willed and clearly doesn't want to take responsibility for any decision in case he makes the wrong one. This even extends to the decision about whether or not to summon a doctor for the clearly dying Stalin, which he insists on making only when a sufficient quorum of the Politburo is present (though in complete fairness on this one, if he'd chosen wrong and Stalin had still recovered it likely could have ended very badly for him).
  • Notice how, during Beria's rant to the others about how he has compromising evidence on "all of them" when it looks like he's going to be the scapegoat for the funeral massacre, Malenkov has made a point of slinking away to the other side of the room while Beria's back is turned away from him. This both ensures that he is not a direct target of Beria's anger at the time and, to the incredulity of the others, gives him a thin layer of justification for why he won't be a target of Beria's wrath and they will ("He said "all of you". I was over there."). And what makes it worse is that it was his dig about how Beria had brought a lot of his current problems on himself that provoked Beria's explosion. It's possibly the clearest example of what a weaselly, self-deluding creep he is.
  • His moping and dithering at the end over the coup to oust Beria may have to do with genuine qualms over what they're doing to "one of us", but that's also coupled with a spineless refusal to actually commit himself to finally taking a side and being the one to make the final decision.
• The Ditherer: Malenkov has absolutely no idea what he's doing and his attempts to lead just make him look like an incompetent weathervane. Beria and Khrushchev both try to take advantage of this for their own ends.
• The Ditz: Poor sap never realizes what is going on.
• Establishing Character Moment: In his first scene, he is listening to Khrushchev telling a story about Stalingrad and clearly doesn't understand it. Shortly afterwards, he idiotically asks what became of someone who was unpersoned...in front of Stalin.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's the only one disturbed by Beria's execution, having to be bullied into it by Khrushchev and forced by circumstance. He's the only one among the cast, and probably the audience, to consider it "wrong" to kill one of their fellows in such a way. After Khrushchev gives him the charge sheet with the detailed lists of all Beria's sexual assault victims - there's a quick shot of him putting the sheet back down with a look of complete disgust on his face, which may imply Beria's crimes overcame any sympathy he had towards him. He then turns and walks away, either out of disgust with Beria, the trial, or the whole affair, or out of cowardice; he's last seen looking quite disturbed as Beria's body is burned.
• Fatal Flaw: Being an indecisive weathervane politician that is obsessed with his perception rather than doing anything that is right.
• Harmless Villain: Uniquely among the Politburo, he just follows the current and never has a person killed for his own gain.
• Historical Downgrade: While Malenkov was pretty weak-willed in reality, he wasn't quite as incompetent as he's portrayed here. He was a charming conversationalist and knew about Beria's attempts to make him into a Puppet King, though he couldn't do much about them.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: The real Malenkov, while considered weak-willed, was nonetheless just as murderous as the rest of Stalin's cronies, with the Leningrad affair^note in which the leaders of the city's resistance during the 900-day siege the Nazis subjected it to were purged and the papers were made to say that the siege never happened simply because Stalin was jealous of the prestige they had received for their leadership being one of his most notorious misdeeds. He was also guilty of overseeing several antisemitic purges that may have been a prelude to a broader campaign of persecution against the Soviet Jews. There is also little evidence that he expressed any kind of moral qualms over getting rid of Beria; while he was reluctant to allow Beria's arrest and had to be basically bullied into going along with the coup, he already had doubts about Beria's ability to lead the USSR after Beria's mishandling the East Germany Uprising of 1953 and it likely had more to do with the fact that Beria was his main ally, and losing him would (and did) substantially weaken Malenkov's hold on the leadership.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: Tries to command respect from the others, but he really can't.
• Inadequate Inheritor: He somehow wound up as Stalin's deputy; as such, he expects to be acclaimed as his natural successor after his death. In all likelihood, Stalin put him there in the first place because he was the only candidate incapable of becoming The Starscream and betraying him. His 'strength' in this sense makes him also unable to win the power struggle that he should have prevented in order to become leader in the first place.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Even if he was Just Following Orders, his actions played a direct role in the death of Stalin as he gathered "evidence" for the Doctor's Plot as alluded to by Beria meaning that all competent doctor's were dead or imprisoned, leaving no competent doctor left in Moscow to treat Stalin. As noted in the Where Are They Now, he was eventually demoted from power by Khruschev.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Mixed with foreshadowing the final image of Malenkov has him be only partly visible and obscured and later out of focus showing that despite all his obsession on the superficial and perception he is destined to be obscured and forgotten.
• The Leader: What he tries to be. Emphasis on tries.
• Of Corsets Funny: Takes to wearing a girdle in order to look more 'leader-like'. Beria mercilessly takes the piss out of him for it.
• Opinion Flip-Flop: Malenkov doesn't have strong opinions on issues and tries to rely on the will of collective leadership, to the point where he's absolutely useless as a prospective leader, but a perfect candidate for Beria to pull the strings of.
  • When poorly trying to delay getting Stalin medical attention, he claims that as the acting General Secretary, he wants to leave the decision of which doctor to call up to the assembled Committee once they've arrived. Even Khrushchev, who wants Stalin dead just as badly, is left absolutely incredulous.
    Malenkov: No, I - I don't agree; I think we should wait until we're quorate.
    Khrushchev: "Quorate"?! The room is only 75% conscious!
  • It gets ridiculous during the Central Committee meeting when Molotov flip-flops on releasing prisoners, all while Malenkov lowers or raises his hand every time when Molotov changes his opinion.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: One of the best examples in recent memory, right down to the bizarre hairstyle. He is completely incapable of commanding respect.
• Puppet King: Ostensibly second-in-command to Stalin, Malenkov is portrayed as completely out of his depth and pathetically easy for everyone else to manipulate. It's clear that Stalin kept him around because he was too weak to gain any popularity among the Russian people, and too stupid to pose any kind of threat.
  • It becomes most pronounced in the Coup when after previously most members demanded that the Politburo be unanimous in condemning Beria, Zhukov actually does not care in the actual moment. Likewise everyone just brushes off Malenkov's discomfort, and in the end Khrushchev reads the charges against Beria.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: After Khrushchev gives him the charge sheet with the detailed lists of all Beria's sexual assault victims, there's a quick shot of Malenkov putting the sheet back down with a look of complete disgust on his face, implying Beria's crimes overcame his previous reluctance to execute him.
• Running Gag:
  • People comparing his hairdo to someone taking a shit on his head.
  • After Stalin's funeral, Malenkov insists on addressing the crowd with the same little girl that posed next to Stalin in a photo stunt years earlier. He's offered some lookalike girls, but he insists on the same one. When she's finally located and brought, he turns her down because she's grown too tall. So he settles for a lookalike... and when he addresses the crowd from the balcony, the lookalike is too short to peek over it.
• Strongly Worded Letter: Towards the end of the movie it starts to dawn on him that he needs to do something to rein in Beria, but the best idea he can come up with is maybe giving him a "slight demotion" to the Ministry for Fisheries... by the time the rest of the Politburo have fully committed themselves to killing Beria.
• Unwitting Pawn: Constantly dismisses accusations that Beria is controlling him until the very end.

Lazar Kaganovich

Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich, Minister of Labour

"Out of my way, you fannies!"

Portrayed By: Dermot Crowley

"How can you run and plot at the same time?"

Minister of Labour.

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• Berserk Button: He gets angrily defensive when Beria brings up his brother.
• The Confidant: Khrushchev uses him as a sounding board for his plots.
• Deadpan Snarker: He is gruff and with a dry sense of humor, somewhere between Khrushchev's and Zhukov's.
• Establishing Character Moment: Upon seeing Stalin's prone form, he's one of two members of the Central Committee (the other being Beria) not to feign grief, but instead quietly says "Shit." It's likely he knows exactly what's coming.^noteHistorically, Kaganovich had been a member of the Communist Party since 1917 and an early supporter of Stalin. He'd also lived through the Soviet Union's internal power struggle following Lenin's death, as well as Stalin's numerous purges. Being the only high-ranking Jewish official to survive through to the end of Stalin's reign, he knew from first-hand experience how cutthroat Soviet politics could get.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's gruff and about as moral as the rest of the group (casually suggesting that if they can't save Stalin and need to pin it on Timaschuk, that they can shoot her afterward), but he's also the one who's consistently on Khrushchev's side trying to reform the Union.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: Kaganovich played a central role in the Ukrainian famine known as The Holodomor and in the Great Purge, to the point that he earned the nickname "Iron Lazar". Kaganovich was a Stalinist to his dying day (in 1991 no less); the film instead portrays him as a friend and confidant of Khrushchev.
• Number Two: Khrushchev is quick to confide in him in the woods.
  • In fact, historically, Kaganovich had been Khrushchev's boss in the 1930s and they were good friends until Khrushchev instituted de-Stalinization, after which Kaganovich broke with him.
• Only Sane Man: Fills this role along with Khrushchev, which is likely why he acts as the latter's Confidant. On some level, he seems to be aware of how blackly absurd the whole situation is.
  "I've had nightmares that made more sense than this."
• Seen It All: As noted under Establishing Character Moment, Kaganovich knows exactly what's coming with Stalin's death, having been a Bolshevik since 1917 when they seized power and having then supported Stalin's own power struggle. He is thus crucial for Khrushchev's schemes. Ironically, he would literally see the entirety of Soviet history, dying in 1991 right before the GKChP coup and dissolution of the USSR. He was the last Old Bolshevik to go.
• Sibling Murder: Beria unambiguously suggests that Lazar is guilty in the death of his brother Mikhail (who was fired from the position of minister, then accused of alleged association with some right-wing group and, in order to avoid torture and execution, Mikhail shot himself after that; all while Lazar didn't do anything to protect him in spite of his high position). Kaganovich accepts the guilt, but angrily says it wasn't easy.
• Token Minority: He is the only Jewish member of the Central Committee by the time of Stalin's death, both in the movie and in real life.

Nikolai Bulganin

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin, Minister of Defence

"What are people's thoughts on getting a... bad doctor?"

Portrayed By: Paul Chahidi

"Jesus Christ, it's the bishops!"

Deputy premier and minister of defense.

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• Ambiguously Gay: He is somewhat flamboyant and fabulous-looking due to his uniform and hairstyle.
• Butt-Monkey: In a deleted scene, Zhukov pranks him by pretending to execute him during Beria's purge. There is some subtext because as minister of defense, he is Zhukov's superior — a position some would argue that he is unworthy of, and stealing it by default, from Zhukov.
• Demoted to Extra: He was not a big character to begin with, but most of his lines were cut from the final film.
• Dragon Ascendant: He was Zhukov's Chief of Staff during World War II.
• "Eureka!" Moment: As his colleagues argue over how they can't find a good doctor to treat Stalin, Bulganin is the first to realize that they stand to benefit if a bad doctor is called instead.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Is visibly outraged when he hears of Beria's sexual crimes with children as young as seven.
• General Failure: He comes off as a bit of a coward, and Zhukov, who is nominally his subordinate, treats him with contempt.
• The Generic Guy: Doesn't get much development.
• Informed Attribute: He's a supporter of Khrushchev and Kaganovich but this is mostly just conveyed through dialogue between other characters.
  • He supposedly stole a fortune in gold according to Mikoyan at one point.
  • Beria angrily points to him being responsible for the death of "poor, blameless, guileless Zykov."
• Pointy-Haired Boss: For a minister of defense, he seems clueless about military matters, and his subordinates ignore him. This is really obvious in the deleted scenes, like when he wonders if Stalin's dacha is under attack after one perimeter mine goes off (nevermind that if it were really under attack, neither he nor Beria would be nonchalantly speaking at the doorframe). Zhukov's (terrifying) prank also shows that the Red Army has no respect for him.^note In Real Life, Bulganin was a general in World War II, but never served in the frontline, and his job was mostly to watch the Red Army and report to Stalin. Despite this, he was eventually promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union, just like Zhukov. To top it off, his hairdo is almost as ridiculous as Malenkov's.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Bulganin doesn't get to do much over the course of the film, but he floats the idea of getting a bad doctor to treat Stalin.
• Those Two Guys: With Mikoyan.

Anastas Mikoyan

Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, Minister of Foreign Trade

Portrayed By: Paul Whitehouse

"Three fittings I had for this suit! Three!"

Vice-Premier of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Trade.

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• 11th-Hour Ranger: He gives his support to Khrushchev's coup literally minutes before it happens, due to believing that Malenkov is on board with it.
• At Least I Admit It: Finds Beria's attempts to whitewash his actions absurd, saying, "We all knew what we were doing."
• Black Shirt: Second only to Molotov in his slavish devotion to Stalin. Even after Stalin's death he wants to carry out the deceased tyrant's final list of executions, accusing reformists of "wiping your arse with Stalin's final list."
• Demoted to Extra: While always the most undeveloped of the Committee members, the final film cut several lines from him, including a whole scene where he tells Svetlana that he is the "sickle" to Bulganin's "hammer".
• Doomed New Clothes: Mikoyan complains bitterly about getting Stalin's urine all over his new suit — which had required three fittings — as they carry Stalin to his bedroom.
• The Generic Guy: Doesn't get much development or characterization, but unlike Bulganin, he actually played this up to avoid getting purged. It worked.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: The movie posters even credit him as "The Schemer". Much like in real life, he was loyal to Stalin, but is quick to align with Khrushchev. Later on, his loyalties would tie to Brezhnev, who, at the end of the film, was plotting against Khrushchev. The fact that he avoided a downfall in what would be a similar situation to the movie later on, and was the only old Bolshevik to retire and die peacefully on his own terms, indicated that this strategy worked.
• Historical Downgrade: The film portrays him as being a cowardly Yes-Man like the rest of the Presidium. By contrast, the real Mikoyan was something of an Honest Advisor who was actually ballsy enough to argue with Stalin!
  • Notably, the political elite of both the Soviet Union and the United States had real and lasting respect for Mikoyan. When the 1958 Berlin crisis upset US/Soviet relations, Khrushchev called on Mikoyan to visit America and reduce the tension. Mikoyan's first response (again, ballsy) was reportedly "you started it, so you go!" but he did end up making the visit, which he did in such an informal way (beginning with a polite request for a holiday visa to "visit my friend," the Soviet Ambassador) that he was warmly received by politicians and public alike.
  • Before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was the only senior member of the Soviet leadership to oppose Khruschev's decision to place nuclear missiles in Cuba.
  • Khrushchev would later ask Mikoyan to be the USSR's official representative at the funeral of John F. Kennedy; Mikoyan was so visibly upset at Kennedy's death that Jacqueline Kennedy would later write to Khrushchev to tell him how moved she was by Mikoyan's feelings for an ostensible enemy.
  • He also acted as Brezhnev's deputy after the coup that ousted Khruschev, making him the only one of the original Bolsheviks to last in power through the regimes of Lenin, Stalin, and Khruschev.
• Schemer: Called that in promotional material.
• Those Two Guys: With Bulganin.
• Token Minority: The only Armenian of the group.

The Red Army

Georgy Zhukov

Field Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

"I fucked Germany. I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat."

Portrayed By: Jason Isaacs

Decorated war hero, and head of the Red Army.

---

• 11th-Hour Ranger: Joins Khrushchev's side amid preparations for Stalin's funeral to help bring down Beria, and sorta fills the role of Token Good Teammate by a forgiving definition.
• Adaptational Personality Change: In the original graphic novel, Zhukov is much more stolid and has much less page time, simply informing Khruschev and his cabal that he is content to stay out of politics but will support them because he does not want to see Beria become head of the government.
• Anti-Hero: He's a decorated war hero of World War II who will do anything he can to protect the honor of the Red Army and defeat Lavrentiy Beria, but he's willing to ally with some pretty murderous and shifty people to do so.
• Artistic License – Military: His caption describes him as "Field Marshal Zhukov - Head of the Soviet Army"; Zhukov was a "Marshal of the Soviet Union", and there was no rank of "Field Marshal"; also, holding that rank did not make Zhukov the highest-ranked general officer in the Red Army, since he shared it with several of his contemporaries, including Ivan Konev and Konstantin Rokossovsky. At the time of Stalin's death, the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces General Staff was Zhukov's former chief of staff, Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky.
• Badass Boast: See his quote there.
• Berserk Button: Disgrace the Red Army's uniform in front of him at your own peril.
• Big Damn Heroes: Him and the Red Army seize control away from the NKVD and bring an end to Beria's terror.
• The Big Guy: The brute force behind Khrushchev's faction. His influence over the Red Army helps counter the NKVD goons, and he and his trusted officers are the muscle for the main deed of apprehending Beria. He even smuggles in the firearms for the job himself.
• Bling of War: Unlike most military personnel in the film, he is only portrayed wearing his very best dress uniform.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Very outgoing, has a robust sense of humor, and is the character most likely to get (successfully) physical with others. Most obvious in his interactions with Vasily. Everyone else tries to talk Vasily down, or, at most, restrain him during his drunken outbursts. Zhukov just punches Vasily in the gut and kicks him on the floor, outright telling him he's a "bloody stain on the uniform" and ordering him to "fucking behave!"
• Bullying a Dragon: With Zhukov and the Red Army being said metaphorical Dragon in question. While Zhukov is implied to have already disliked the man, Beria's attempt to sideline the Red Army with his NKVD pissed him off enough that he ultimately sided with Khrushchev against him, bringing the Red Army with him to decisively oust Beria and the NKVD from Moscow and from power.
• Brutal Honesty: Doesn't pull punches with his words. It's Truth in Television, too. When Svetlana comes across her brother Vassily beaten down on the floor and demands to know who did it, Zhukov admits without any shame.
  Zhukov: I did, and I enjoyed it. Been a long time coming.
• Cincinnatus: While "the entire Red Army is in Moscow with their guns", he launches a coup to topple Beria's brutal grip on power, walking into a heated Central Committee meeting with an AK-47 in hand with also-armed loyal officers behind him and dragging the infamous serial rapist off to a hasty trial. And that's more or less it. Zhukov is genuinely interested in keeping the Red Army out of party affairs, the Communist Party out of military affairs, and men like Beria out of power at the same time, without abusing the ridiculously convenient opportunities afforded to him to start a junta outright.
• Chest of Medals: His entire torso is plastered with various medals, of which he's evidently extremely proud. This is unfortunately not Truth in Television, however...but only because the real Zhukov's medals◊ were, according to Jason Isaacs, more numerous than could be fitted on Isaacs' chest. Unlike many examples of this trope though, the movie goes out of its way to show why this Four-Star Badass actually deserves them.
• The Coats Are Off: He sheds his coat in slow motion when arriving at Stalin's funeral; it's a hilariously appropriate introduction to such a hammy, boastful man.
• Deadpan Snarker: His sense of humor is very unrestrained, since he doesn't seem remotely concerned with the possible consequences of insulting the likes of Beria.
• The Dreaded: While not to the extent of Stalin or Beria, nobody is willing to mess with him or at least to his face, and even Svetlana is unwilling to confront him over his attack on her brother. This is partly because he is personally a tough old bastard unimpressed by political scheming and unafraid to use his fists on people who annoy him, and partly because he is the beloved commander of the Red Army and they will follow in the direction he leads, making him the formidable kingmaker in any power struggle in the USSR.
• Enraged by Idiocy: He has zero patience for Vasily's idiocy, and sends him to the floor to get him to behave.
• Establishing Character Moment: Is first seen shaking the hands of two regular soldiers who just happen to be on guard duty^note  at this point in the movie people who were not part of the political elite have been dismissed or executed for the pettiest of reasons, he then throws some snark at one of ministers of defense. After taking of his coat in epic fashion and wondering where the alcohol is, he goes to Khrushchev and Beria to tell them he is upset at the fact that the NKVD is replacing the red army in the city. In this scene he establishes his Awesome Ego, concern of everyday citizens, his disdain for the political elite, as well as his A Father to His Men tendencies for the Red Army.
• Everyone Has Standards: He is enraged when he finds out that Soviet citizens were gunned down by NKVD troops on the way to Stalin's funeral. He is also briefly aghast when he found out it was Khrushchev who put the trains back on which led to the massacre.
• Four-Star Badass: It's only Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov who led the Red Army to victory against the Nazis and won't let anyone forget it. His high position makes him virtually untouchable, a blessing for Khrushchev once it's clear Zhukov is on his side.
• Gay Bravado: Plants a great big smackeroo on Khrushchev, then grabs his junk, while jokingly threatening to report his plotting against Beria.
  Zhukov: Nikita Khrushchev! *MWAH* You've balls like Kremlin domes!
  • Also, he calls anyone who's not in the Army (they get the privilege of being called "boys") ladies or, if he really wants to be irreverent, girls.
    Zhukov: I'm off to represent the entire Red Army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourself.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Interrupts Vasily's paranoid rant with a single punch, calling him a disgrace to the uniform.
  Zhukov: NOT TODAY! YOU'RE A FUCKING STAIN ON THAT UNIFORM AND YOU BEST FUCKING BEHAVE!
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: The real Zhukov, while not fat, was a bit on the wider side, had a receding hairline and was overall pretty average-looking compared with Jason Isaacs' dashingly handsome appearance. Even the scar, which he historically didn’t have, doesn’t really detract from his looks.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Zhukov wasn't involved with the political purges or acts of genocide perpetrated by the Soviet government, true, but he wasn't quite as noble as the movie makes him out to be either. Something not touched upon in the film is that Zhukov encouraged Red Army troops to "exact a brutal vengeance" against German civilians, and he enriched himself by looting cities he captured; the Party even condemned him for the latter. That being said...
• Historical Villain Upgrade: ...He was more than willing to acknowledge the contributions of fellow generals and subordinates, paying a warm tribute to many of them in his memoirs rather than claiming all the credit for himself. He also had food, water, and medication brought to Berlin for its denizens after the city was taken and his men had had their fill of pillaging.
• I Call It "Vera": He calls assault rifles "ladies". He calls men ladies too, for that matter.
  Zhukov: Alright boys... [Opens trenchcoat to reveal smuggled AK-47s] meet your dates for tonight!
• Incoming Ham: His arrival into the film is marked with a Slow Motion The Coats Are Off moment, in addition to the wonderful line:
  Zhukov: Right, what’s a war hero got to do to get some LUBRICATION around here?
• Large Ham: His bluntness is portrayed with a Yorkshire accent as broad as the moors, and by insulting pretty much everyone he runs into.
• A Lighter Shade of Grey: Has the least baggage of the Soviet elite against him and helped bring an end to the Nazis. Despite his haughtiness at home, he's ready to bring Beria to justice and loathes the NKVD.
  • In Real Life, Zhukov got rich by looting German cities and was even condemned for it by the party. However, he had nothing to do with political purges and was never a schemer.
• One-Steve Limit: His first name is Georgy, but he is introduced purely as "Field Marshal Zhukov" and referred to solely by his title and/or surname, presumably to avoid confusion with Georgy Malenkov (who is consistently referred to by his first name throughout the film).
• The Paragon: Having led the Red Army to victory over the Nazis, Marshal Zhukov is a major source of inspiration and heroism for the Soviet Union, which makes him untouchable as far as political games are concerned. He thus exploits this role in leading the Red Army against the NKVD, which makes him the most valuable member in Khrushchev's team.
• Pet the Dog: When Beria announces that all trains heading to Moscow will be stopped, Zhukov indignantly insists that the Soviet people have a right to attend Stalin's funeral.
• Refuge in Audacity: He clearly knows that his accomplishments make him untouchable, and so doesn't give a damn about doing things like punching Stalin's son right in the stomach or insulting Malenkov's hair to his face.
• Rugged Scar: He has a scar down his brow. ^noteThis was apparently added by Jason Isaacs to emphasize his image as a war hero.
• Seen It All: He fought in the Russian Civil War, he smashed the Japanese at Khalkin Gol, he watched civilians cannibalize each other during the Siege of Leningrad; and he flattened Berlin to end World War II in Europe. You think a "fleshlump in a fucking waistcoat" scares him, even the head of the secret police?
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Drops an f-bomb every other word.
• Sixth Ranger: Joins Khrushchev late but decisively.
• Stepford Smiler: He tells Beria and Khrushchev that he's pissed off something fierce about Beria keeping his men confined to their barracks, all with a big grin on his face.
• Summon Bigger Fish: Zhukov and the Red Army are Khrushchev's summoned bigger fish to eat Beria and the NKVD.
• Talk to the Fist: Has a very direct and unambiguous way of expressing his disapproval of someone.
• Token Good Teammate: Well, a given value, at least — on Khrushchev's side, he's the one with the least amount of dirt Beria has on him and the least ambiguous in morality, compared to the others.
• Tranquil Fury: He expresses his anger to Beria and Khrushchev about NKVD replacing Red Army soldiers in Moscow with a happy face.
  Zhukov: I mean, I'm smiling, but I am very fucking furious.
• Trenchcoat Warfare: When secretly preparing for Beria's arrest, he swings his coat open to reveal vast numbers of guns for his lieutenants.
  Zhukov: All right, boys, meet your dates for tonight.
• Troll: He enjoys fucking with people.
  Zhukov: I'm going to have to report this conversation, threatening to do harm or obstruct any member of presidium in the process of... (cracks up)... look at your fucking face!
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Svetlana is the only non-ally spared Zhukov's direct insults, threats, or abuse. The worst thing he does to her is respond sarcastically to her toothless, unfinished warning after he punches Vasily.
  Svetlana: If any of you... should...
  Zhukov: Well, that's me told.
• You Don't Look Like You: The movie version of Zhukov looks like a cross between the real-life Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky◊, another famed Soviet Marshal.

Leonid Brezhnev

Major General Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

Portrayed By: Gerald Lepkowski

An army officer who supports Zhukov during the coup against Beria. While only a minor character here, as followers of Soviet history know he will go on to become a significant and powerful Soviet leader himself.

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• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Just as the real Brezhnev had.
• Chest of Medals: Not as impressive as Zhukov's, but still extensive, foreshadowing the future good old man's infamous weakness for fake bling.
• Deadpan Snarker: Zhukov opens his coat to reveal two AK-47s and tells his men to pick them as their dates for the evening. Brezhnev says he'll have the tall blonde.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Perhaps. There's no sign that he thought of the Khrushchev-Zhukov coup as a chance to seize power for himself, but by the end of the film he turns into this.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's seen visibly wincing in the background when the list of charges against Beria are being read.
• Foreshadowing: While his identity isn't revealed until the end, sharp viewers will notice that a certain army officer is focused on a bit more by the camera and has Big Ol' Eyebrows, hinting to his identity.
• Here We Go Again!: The final scene of the film shows Khrushchev attending a concert, and Brezhnev is sitting one row above him keenly keeping an eye on the new General Secretary.
• I Call It "Vera": When choosing one of Zhukov's smuggled rifles.
  "I'll take the tall blonde."
• Let's Get Dangerous!: After Khrushchev claims that Malenkov is on board, Zhukov looks to a nearby building where Brezhnev is watching and nods.
  "Okay, let's go and catch a pig for the pot."
• Number Two: Along with General Ivan Konev, he follows Zhukov's orders when arresting Beria.
• The Starscream: He eventually deposed Khrushchev, despite being one of his key followers.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In a deleted scene, he gives an quiet yet epic one to Beria as the latter is desperately trying to talk his way out of the coup:
  Beria: Look, look, I-I have a solution, let's, uh, examine article-
  Brezhnev: I'm this close to examining the contents of your fucking stomach.
• Young Future Famous People: He appears near the end and is indicated as the man who will succeed Khrushchev in time.

Other Characters

Maria Yudina

Maria Veniaminovna Yudina

"I know. But I'm confident of everlasting life."

Portrayed By: Olga Kurylenko

A renowned pianist and opponent of the Soviet regime.

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• Ambiguously Jewish: Her patronymic is "Veniaminovna" from the very Jewish name Veniamin (Benjamin). In Real Life she used to be Jewish, and converted to Orthodox Christianity in early adulthood.
• But Not Too Foreign: In a movie notable for casting British and Americans Not Even Bothering with the Accent as Soviets, she is notable for being played by an actress actually born in the Soviet Union.
• Every Woman has her Price: And hers is 20,000 rubles.
• Face Death with Dignity: She seems to be in a permanent, but low-intensity, heroic-suicidal mode. Andreyev sarcastically compares her to Joan of Arc.
• The Fundamentalist: Downplayed, but she must really be convinced of her faith if she can affirm it and her belief in the afterlife in front of the atheist Soviet leadership. This was the case with her in real life, too.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: To a minor extent. She didn't have to be bribed to record another performance, but did so willingly, knowing that if she refused, she'd be risking the lives of numerous other musicians. She did receive the 20,000 rubles, but they were a gift from Stalin, and she quickly re-gifted the money to her church.
• It's Personal: Her letter to Stalin chides him for purging her loved ones.
• Money, Dear Boy: In-universe, she refuses to repeat the concert so it can be recorded for Stalin. She changes her mind when Andreyev agrees to pay her 20,000 rubles, however.
• Reality Subtext: The film is banned in Russia, came out while Ukraine and Russia were fighting an undeclared war in Donetsk, and the character personifying Soviet objectors is played by an Ukrainian actress.
  • Considering Ukrainians hate the Stalinist regime for the Holodomor Famine, which killed millions of Ukrainians, it's deliciously ironic that the woman who hands Stalin the note that kills him in this movie is played by a Ukrainian actress.
• Rebellious Spirit: One that almost gets her killed, and instead puts her under constant watch.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When she refuses to repeat the concert, just because The Caligula wants to have a record.
• Unluckily Lucky: She avoids execution for her scathing letter to Stalin by unintentionally causing his death, but now she's under constant watch by Soviet officials. In a deleted scene, she catches Beria's eye for even wronger reasons, but fortunately Beria is executed before he can act on this.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her note causes Stalin to Die Laughing, which causes a power struggle, the death of Beria, his minions, and several hundreds of innocents. It does work out a bit in the end, though.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Double Subverted. She knows her rebel girl antics will get her killed or closely watched in the Soviet Union rather than be a beacon for change, but when reform does appear on the horizon after Stalin's death, she thinks Beria is approaching her because he is the reformer, while Khrushchev isn't.

Yuri Andreyev

Yuri Andreyev

"Don't worry, nobody's gonna get killed, I promise you! This is just a... musical emergency."

Portrayed By: Paddy Considine

The director of the performance at the beginning of the film.

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• Advertised Extra: Despite Paddy Considine being third-billed, he only appears at the very beginning and very end of the film. As a character, he's crucial only for the benefit of the audience, to establish the aura of fear that pervades Stalin's Russia.
• The Everyman: Personifies the average Soviet citizen who just wants to survive. He neither cares for seizing power (like the Politburo) nor for rebelling against it (like Yudina).
• False Reassurance: He's obviously scared shitless while trying to repeat the concert, so he doesn't help a lot in calming the public.
• Last-Name Basis: He is not given a first name.
• Nervous Wreck: Spends his scenes shaking with fear. Justified, since he doesn't want to displease The Caligula.
• Oh, Crap!: His entire screentime consists of one moment of this after the other. Stalin personally calls him and asks for a recording of the night's performance... but it wasn't recorded, so he decides to repeat it rather than risk Stalin's wrath. Then the conductor is knocked unconcious, and a large chunk of the audience depart, affecting the acoustics. And Maria Yudina refuses to play her part, and though she's convinced to, she later slips a suicidally rebellious note into the record sleeve, which he fails to intercept.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Inverted. He bribes Yudina into going along with the rules.

Lidiya Timaschuk

Dr. Lidiya Feodosiyevna Timaschuk

Portrayed By: Cara Horgan

A female doctor pressured by Beria to act as a denouncer in Moscow's medical community.

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• Death by Adaptation: She actually died in 1983.
• Demoted to Extra: Her longest scene detailing her fate was cut.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Despite her enthusiastic service, Beria handpicks her as the fall girl for Stalin's death.
• Refuge in Audacity: According to the deleted scene, Beria likes to have sex with her while on top of Stalin's desk.
• The Scapegoat: Chosen as one for Stalin's death.
• Sexual Extortion: Beria didn't miss the opportunity, naturally. He claims she has "a great talent for fellatio". Unlike Beria's other victims, Timaschuk seems perfectly willing to go along with it, in line with her "proven desire to survive".
• Stuff Blowing Up: In the deleted scene, Beria tells her to run away and she is killed when she steps on a mine outside Stalin's dacha.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: She is the only one of the truck's doctors that is not seen being loaded back when Stalin's dacha is dismantled. Her fate is explained in the deleted scenes.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: What Beria thinks of her.

Lamonsky

Dr. Lamonsky

Played by: Karl Johnson

A retired doctor forced to join Stalin's surgical team.

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• The Alleged Expert: This is weaponized, as Lamonsky's medical knowledge is years out of date but he's given a key role on the team treating Stalin (mainly because the committee wants "bad doctor[s]").
• Blame Game: He and his staff pass the blame around about who brought in a piece of equipment that doesn't work.
• Butt-Monkey: He's seized by the Secret Police while walking his dog, dragged out to the dacha to operate on Stalin, gets threatened by Beria, suffers several humiliating failures, then is arrested.
• Uncertain Doom: He's last seen being loaded on a truck and taken away along with several others from the dacha as other people are being shot nearby.

Sergei

Sergei

Played by Tom Brooke

Andreyev's assistant at the concert hall.

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• Number Two: He implements Andreyev's orders and acts as his confidant.
• The Snack Is More Interesting: Andreyev complains about how much time he spends munching on apples during the crisis.
• Unfazed Everyman: For the most part, he's surprisingly indifferent and calm about recording a new record that Stalin wants badly enough that it may mean the staff's lives if anything goes wrong.

Matryona

Matryona

Played: June Watson

A housekeeper at the dacha.

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• Kindly Housekeeper: She's polite to some guards and is and concerned about Stalin after his stroke.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: She's only referred to by the honorific title for lady rather than her real name.
• Uncertain Doom: She's last seen being loaded on a truck and taken away along with several others from the dacha as other people are being shot nearby.

Middle-aged prisoner

Middle-aged prisoner

Played by: Ruslav Neupokev

The father of a nuclear family. He is arrested during one of Beria's purges and is identified by his own son. He is later released during Beria's efforts to seem like a reformer.

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• Allegorical Character: He's in the film to represent the scores of Soviet citizens who were arrested and dragged off into the night for little to no reason, and often after being denounced by a relative.
• Chekhov's Gunman: His arrest seems like a one-off gag until he gets released later on to put a face to the people Beria and Malenkov are freeing for good PR.
• Death Glare: Gave one to his own grown son after he was released and returned home to his wife and kids, as his son was the one who denounced him.
• Happily Married: His wife happily embraces him when he returns from his arrest, and he returns the sentiment.
• No Name Given: He's only credited as "middle-aged man."
• The Voiceless: He has no dialogue.

Nina

Nina Krushchev

Played by: Sylvestra La Touzel

Krushchev's wife.

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• Happily Married: She and her husband have a trusting relationship and she is supportive of him in her one scene with dialogue.
• Seen It All: As the wife of a major Soviet leader, she's familiar with the cutthroat world they live in and is barely fazed to hear about Molotov being on a list for the next purge (although she does show some sympathy for him).

Kobulov

Kobulov

Played by: Nicholas Sidi

A sinister NKVD officer.

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• The Dragon: He carries out many of Beria's ruthless orders and laughs with him about Beria ordering executions and raping women.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: He wears a striking leather jacket for most of the movie.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: His State Sec job lets him do whatever he wants to innocent people without fear of punishment...until Beria's downfall, which quickly leads to Kobulov's death during Krushchev's coup.
• Leave No Witnesses: He spearheads the looting of Kuntsevo Dacha after Stalin's body is taken away and the Central Committee follows, executing the house staff and even his second-in-command to avoid the truth about the NKVD's activities getting out.