Navalny  ★★★★

THERE’S an amazing section of the 2022 documentary feature Navalny that’s worth watching by itself.

Russian politician Alexei Navalny, who is as close as you’re going to get to an Opposition Leader in that country, has survived an assassination attempt and is working with people who believe they have tracked down his attackers.

In an almost unbelievable sequence Navalny himself starts cold calling the suspects in what everyone probably thought would just amount to a nice bit of theatre for the documentary.

The first couple of conversations go as expected, but one of the scientists who helped develop the nerve agent used in the assassination attempt is completely fooled by the ruse and starts talking.

While this is the stand-out highlight of the film, Canadian director Daniel Roher keeps the pace constant due to the fact much of the footage was captured guerilla-style right alongside the courageous Navalny, his wife and small support team.

Rather than delve back into Navalny’s background and the events that shaped his place in history, Roher concentrates on the period leading up to the poisoning and the fallout.

It ends with Navalny taking the life-changing decision to return to Russia in 2021 regardless of the fate that awaits him.

Yes it’s genre is documentary, but Navalny is actually a real-life and real-time thriller not to be missed.