Soviet Union, 1937. Thousands of letters from prisoners falsely accused by the regime are burned without a trace. However, one letter miraculously reaches its destination: the desk of Alexander Kornyev, a newly appointed local prosecutor determined to meet the sender. Based on a novel by Soviet writer and political prisoner Georgy Demidov, Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa (My Joy) delivers a meticulously crafted historical drama which acts as a stark and incisive reminder of the horrors of totalitarian bureaucracy.

‘It is a very disturbing parable of the insidious micro-processes of tyranny.’
★★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘The claustrophobia is total – we’re theatrically trapped in cells and offices, click-clacking down corridors – but the superb Romanian cinematographer Oleg Mutu lights everything like Vermeer doing Borat.’
★★★★ Tim Robey, The Telegraph