My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

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My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

2025

5h 24m

Documentary

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100%

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31 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet, Day Night Day Night) came to Moscow in 2021 to make a film about independent journalists being declared "foreign agents" by Putin's regime -- as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. With her friend Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at TV Rain, Russia's last remaining independent news channel, Loktev brings us into a community of sharp, warm and funny young women speaking truth to power as they face increasing threats. Loktev filmed in Moscow during the first week of the full-scale invasion, as the journalists tried to counter Russian propaganda and report the truth on the war, until all independent media was shut down and they were forced to flee the country. Structured in five chapters, feeling like a cross between a Russian novel and a reality show about frighteningly real reality, Loktev's film is an extraordinary historic record of a country on the verge of fascism and an immersive and intimate inside view of the opposition in an authoritarian society, which becomes all the more globally relevant every day.

David Jenkins

Little White Lies

1d

5/5

What’s surprising about the film is how hopeful it is, zeroing in on human creativity and resilience during the worst of times rather than wallowing in abject misery.

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Tim Grierson

Los Angeles Times

Nov 26

Loktev didn’t set out to be a witness to history, but what she’s emerged with is an indispensable record and a rallying cry.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Aug 22

4/4

We have seen so many documentaries about our past, but few have felt more like a warning about our future.

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Sean Burns

Spliced Personality

12h

I probably don’t need to tell you that nothing in this movie made me feel better about the way things have been going over here lately.

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Liam Lacey

Original Cin

16h

A

Heartbreaking and inspiring, the documentary My Undesirable Friends introduces us to the courageous women who represented the last gasp of Russia’s independent press.

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Dave Giannini

InSession Film

1d

A

My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow is important, and not in the way we usually speak about movies.

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Amy K.

@Amylk Feb 8

You know what’s coming, but when it comes it hits with such force.

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George Z

@Gzaver Jan 21

Despite its 5 hour+ length. Hang in there the last two hours is riveting and devastating to watch. These young journalists are hero’s to me. It is an important film on the censorship of media and the news that’s slowly happening in America. A must see film!

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Aug 15

Real footage in 5 hours and 24 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Julia Loktev

Director

Julia Loktev

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Julia Loktev

Cinematographer

Julia Loktev

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Synopsis

Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet, Day Night Day Night) came to Moscow in 2021 to make a film about independent journalists being declared "foreign agents" by Putin's regime -- as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. With her friend Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at TV Rain, Russia's last remaining independent news channel, Loktev brings us into a community of sharp, warm and funny young women speaking truth to power as they face increasing threats. Loktev filmed in Moscow during the first week of the full-scale invasion, as the journalists tried to counter Russian propaganda and report the truth on the war, until all independent media was shut down and they were forced to flee the country. Structured in five chapters, feeling like a cross between a Russian novel and a reality show about frighteningly real reality, Loktev's film is an extraordinary historic record of a country on the verge of fascism and an immersive and intimate inside view of the opposition in an authoritarian society, which becomes all the more globally relevant every day.

Director: Julia Loktev
Producer: Julia Loktev
Distributor: Argot Pictures
Production Co: Marminchilla
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 3, 2026
Runtime: 5h 24m