There have been many shocking realizations of controversial real-world political figures on screen throughout the years, and upon the release of Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin, now is the perfect time to look at the best ones. Even if reviews for The Wizard of the Kremlin have not been stunning, its core performance makes it a worthwhile watch.
Seeing familiar faces and ideas move from the news to narrative films has always been a curious phenomenon. While political thrillers like All the President’s Men focus less on the larger-than-life faces of the Watergate story, like Nixon himself, to instead examine Woodward and Bernstein, other projects have been more blunt with their methods and recreated faces from the headlines.
Still, there is a fine line between impression and parody. James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump has become one of the comedian’s calling cards, but his execution, while excellent on Saturday Night Live, would not fit into a balanced biopic about the American president. Embodying such outsized roles is an incredibly difficult task, but has been done several times throughout history.
History and narrative are not as separate as many might assume. Both are written with a perspective, and each tries to capture a concise story, generally with a particular aim. Seeing how these well-known figures have been humanized in each of these films, for better and for worse, helps to capture a more nuanced idea of them and their worlds.
Jude Law As Vladimir Putin in The Wizard Of The Kremlin
Jude Law is a brilliantly handsome and charismatic performer, but he transforms into something completely different in Olivier Assayas’ new film, where he plays the controversial Russian leader. The film is a shocking look at Russian political machinations, and hinges on Law’s believability in the role.
While Law does not totally disappear, he provides strong complexity and emotion to his young Vladimir Putin on the rise to power. The Rotten Tomatoes score for Wizard of the Kremlin may not be as high as some might hope, but the reviews have tended to praise Law’s performance, and for good reason.
Even when the movie doesn’t quite hit the mark, it is compelling to see such a terrifying real-world presence as Putin put on screen in this way. Jumping from the headlines to the big screen, this story of Putin’s terrifying rise is worth seeing as soon as possible.
Meryl Streep As Margaret Thatcher In The Iron Lady
The first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister in Britain, Margaret Thatcher is an especially controversial figure in 20th-century history. A staunch and rigid conservative, Thatcher received great support from her base, all while painting herself as an unrelenting villain among liberal circles.
Meryl Streep’s career has been defined by all kinds of roles, but her turn as Margaret Thatcher was one of her best. Despite being an American, Streep fully embodied the figure of Thatcher, leaning into her speech, mannerisms, and look in this powerful film.
The Iron Lady earned Streep her third Academy Award, and it is clear why. Her work in this film is not just among Streep’s greatest, but is even one of the best performances of all time.
Josh Brolin As George W. Bush In W.
Oliver Stone’s W. followed a long line of political movies made by the acclaimed filmmaker and featured a powerful performance by Josh Brolin at its core, playing former president George W. Bush. Chronicling W.’s life from the 1960s up until his first term as president, the film covers some complex ground.
Bush’s handling of 9/11, which was still relatively fresh for most viewers in 2008, is an important part of the story. Embodying W.’s folksy charm and occasional silliness, Brolin brings a complex depth to his portrayal. The film’s core empathy lies with this nuanced take.
While Bush stoked a lot of hatred, there was also a fair bit of support for his work as president. Telling a character story that looks over these complex ideas without being a polemic in any direction makes for a powerful cinematic experience.
Randall Park As Kim Jong Un In The Interview
The Interview was a bold film that depicted a fictional assassination attempt on the real Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. A uniquely vilified despot, Kim Jong Un and his government have been accused many times of human rights violations, including torture and execution of North Korean citizens.
Randall Park leans further into parody than anyone else on this list, but his version of Kim is unusually soft and charismatic, although still with a violent edge. An unusually human examination of the character, Park brought a surprising amount of depth to what was ultimately a silly movie.
The legacy of The Interview has been usurped by the controversies around it. North Korea threatened retaliation if the film’s release was not canceled. Ultimately, the theatrical release did not occur, but the film was made available on digital platforms.
Kevin Spacey As Richard Nixon In Elvis & Nixon
It is hard to say if Richard Nixon or Kevin Spacey is the more controversial figure in 2026. Still, seeing the powerful actor perfectly fulfills the role of the disgraced president. The film chronicles the historical curiosity of Elvis’ attempt to work as an undercover agent for the government, hoping to fight in the war against drugs.
A PR stunt that was blown largely out of proportion, this meeting of the minds between Elvis Presley and the president in 1970 did occur, but little came of it. This film instead focuses on the larger-than-life characters, with powerful performances by Michael Shannon as Elvis and Spacey as the president.
Spacey brings his strong and familiar charisma to the character, and his performance is excellent. While actors like Frank Langella may have given even better turns as the same president in Frost/Nixon, Spacey’s transformation into the character is arguably the most interesting.
Denzel Washington As Malcolm In Malcolm X
A hero of Black nationalism, the great Malcolm X has certainly been seen controversially throughout history. In the 1950s and 1960s, his work felt to many like an extreme alternative to the peace that figures like Martin Luther King Jr. preached. With time, however, Malcolm’s militant forms of resistance have grown more and more understandable and necessary.
Playing the larger-than-life figure in Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic Malcolm X, Denzel Washington brought his incredible charisma and shaped it around an accurate and powerful portrayal of the political activist.
Malcolm X is one of Denzel Washington’s best movies, and his turn as Malcolm was powerful, emotional, and deep. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance, but ultimately lost to Al Pacino for his work in Scent of a Woman.
Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump In The Apprentice
Donald Trump continues to have an enormous presence in the real world, and portraying him onscreen is a difficult task. The aforementioned James Austin Johnson does a great parody on SNL, while Brendan Gleeson did strong work portraying the US President as a cartoonish villain in The Comey Rule.
The breathtakingly handsome Sebastian Stan, however, brings a level of surprising humanity to the outsized figure. Stan’s performance in The Apprentice, chronicling the relationship Trump shared with his lawyer, Roy Cohn, in the 1970s and ’80s, is more subdued and earned the star an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor.
It is difficult to chronicle a figure as big as Donald Trump as a whole, but this film and this performance worked by taking a much smaller lens. As a younger version of the president, during his time as a real estate mogul, Stan undergoes a complex and strong transformation.
Damian Lewis As Rob Ford In Run This Town
Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is an extremely controversial figure who came under scandal when a video of him smoking crack cocaine was released to the press in 2013. A populist politician who nevertheless had strong support from many in the city, his tabloid life exposed him on the national stage.
This was chronicled in the 2019 movie Run this Town, where the mayor was played by Damian Lewis. Due to Rob Ford’s familiar look, the actor had to undergo enormous cosmetic work, transforming into Rob Ford in a fashion similar to Colin Farrell in HBO’s The Penguin.
Not all of these performances have worked, and, like with The Wizard of the Kremlin, the most interesting part of Run This Town is how it depicts its familiar and controversial faces. Comparing the stars who played these roles with these outsized characters has helped to make these films so compelling.
- Release Date
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May 15, 2026
- Runtime
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136 minutes
- Director
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Olivier Assayas
- Writers
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Giuliano da Empoli, Olivier Assayas, Emmanuel Carrère
- Producers
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Jeff Rice, Olivier Delbosc, Sidonie Dumas, Sylvie Barthet, François Samuelson, Stuart Manashil, Igor Pronin, Joel Michaely, Lee Broda, Yulia Zayceva, Max Pavlov, Niraj Bhatia, Svetlana Punte, Theodore Shivdasani, Robert K. MacLean, Thomas Pierce, Patrick Doherty
