Russian propaganda starts young in the slight but moving Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Partially because of its shooting method, where Pasha smuggled out two years of footage shot during the course of his school duties, Mr. Nobody Against Putin can feel limited in scope, the gaps around what we see bridged by confessionals he delivers in his apartment. Perhaps exacerbated by Borenstein putting this film together after the fact (well, more after the fact than most movies), the aspiring narrative threads running through the film and papered over by personal monologues can feel forced or half-baked, as if assembled without the actual substance needed to make the point stick. This kind of arc-based manipulation isn’t uncommon among nonfiction, especially when there’s little control over what footage you’re working with, but it’s too transparent here, giving the otherwise intimate film the unflattering air of reality television. 

Yet, when Mr. Nobody Against Putin relies solely on its footage of history in motion, it’s vital. Its observations of a nation’s shifting attitude towards war, towards hate, is crushing and familiar—and it’s made all the more legible when reduced down in scale to this environment of children and lecturers. Most of Pasha’s peers rebel in small ways against the new lessons they are mandated to teach by the Ministry Of Education. Yet, one in particular—a gaunt, old-school, hardliner history teacher (of all things)—embraces it wholeheartedly. Despite his seeming dryness as a pedagogue and relative unpopularity compared to the hip, young, Western-leaning Pasha, the man who leaps to conform wins a competition for “favorite teacher” and is rewarded with a new apartment. It’s a material reflection of a rightward swing driven by quid pro quo, which has become more and more common in the U.S. as our political environment creeps towards that dictated by Putin.

It’s also a reflection of how larger social tides can quickly turn, leaving the principled few in the lurch. The most upsetting moments of the film, aside from watching as his former students are vaguely conscripted into a conflict orchestrated by a dictator, are when his older coworkers advise him to keep his head down and stop being so vocal about his beliefs. Largely abandoned by his community, which rallies around the troops composed of their young men, and fretted over by those close to him, Pasha’s desperation to make a difference becomes all the more painful. In light of his smaller acts of rebellion (knocking over flags, making near-inflammatory statements to classrooms), it’s no wonder that he became so invested in making this film, even if he can never really say all the things he wants out loud. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is a movie born from hopelessness, and yet, because of how relatable that despair has become as our own government has tightened its grip, its minor defiance is both courageous and aspirational to those of us observing the erosion of our values in real time.

Director: David Borenstein
Writer: David Borenstein
Release Date: January 21, 2026