Antidote

The name of the film means antivenom, and that is precisely what the story is about. People who oppose Vladimir Putin’s murderous regime continue their work, even though many of them have been silenced through brute force and several critics have been assassinated.

Antidote begins when a key informant manages to flee Russia. The anonymous man is a chemist who was involved in developing poisons intended to assassinate opposition figures. The most well-known of these substances are the various versions of the nerve agent Novichok, which was originally developed in the Soviet Union.

The chemist believed the substances would be used in the fight against terrorism, but after the truth was revealed, he left his work and disclosed his information to journalists.
Other central figures in the film include Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, who was forced to flee Europe after investigating Russian assassins and their methods, and historian and opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who ends up in prison for decades on false charges. He is in danger of facing the same fate as the assassinated Aleksei Navalnyi.

The film depicts the cynical bloodthirstiness of Putin’s regime more grimly than ever before. At the same time, it is a story of courage and hope – a story about people who refuse to give up.

Salla Nazareko (translated by Elina Huttunen)