So, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Churchill walk into a purgatory. They’re stuck in limbo, waiting for God to decide their fate, and while they wait, they troll each other like bored schoolkids at recess. Stalin, always starving, gets roasted for looking like a wardrobe in his boxy coat. When Hitler asks, “Do you have snot in heaven?” Stalin doesn’t miss a beat: “Communists have everything.” Mussolini can’t stop bragging about Lenin being his mentor while fondling ghostly Roman legionnaires. Churchill keeps dialing the living world to check on Queen Elizabeth, casually wondering when she’ll join them because purgatory is “terribly boring without her.” Hitler, unsurprisingly, steals the show with gems like “What are we, Jews, wandering the desert forever waiting for forgiveness?” It’s absurd, grotesque, and, somehow, hilarious.
Even Jesus makes a cameo, stumbling in like a tired guest star, mumbling in Aramaic with the whiny tones of Udo Kier in The Kingdom. He’s there to complain about the long line to heaven. Honestly, same, Jesus.
Sokurov stitches real archival footage of these figures (minus Jesus, go figure) into Dürer-esque purgatory landscapes, creating a fever dream of grotesque, uncanny animations. Just when you think it’s all a dark sitcom, the film shifts: faceless human masses are consumed by rocky terrain in a haunting sequence. It’s less a dictator comedy and more an existential gut punch, like David Lynch wandered into post-production and said, “Let me ruin your day.”
Sokurov’s use of animation isn’t just aesthetic—it equalizes everything. Realistic soldiers and surreal cliffs carry the same eerie plausibility, making this purgatory feel too real. It’s disturbing, hypnotic, and impossible to look away from.
Churchill, gallant to the last, is the only one to escape. His devotion to Queen Elizabeth becomes his beacon of light, lifting him out of the absurd dream of death. Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini remain trapped in their endless sad-go-round, too consumed by their egos to move on.
This is the perfect movie for a slow-burning, smoke-filled date when time feels optional, and you’re both in the mood to embrace the surreal. Pair it with a hookah or, for the true purgatory vibe, an opium pipe. As the haze deepens, you’ll realize purgatory isn’t meant to be lived—it’s meant to be escaped. Churchill shows the way: devotion to someone beyond yourself. So lean in, lock eyes with your date, and remember—only love gets you out of limbo. Now that’s a fairy tale.
