‘Two Prosecutors’ Trailer: Ukrainian Auteur Sergei Loznitsa Returns with a Harrowing Soviet Union Legal Thriller

Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has found success in both scripted and documentary films, many of which explore the legacy of authoritarianism in Europe and its parallels with the present. His latest work, “Two Prosecutors,” is a clear extension of those ideas, using a historical thriller format to tell a story about the Soviet Union’s legal system that should resonate with anyone concerned about authoritarian governments in 2026.

Per the official synopsis of “Two Prosecutors,” it’s “Soviet Union, 1937. Thousands of letters from detainees falsely accused by the regime are burned in a prison cell. Against all odds, one of them reaches its destination, upon the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornyev. Kornyev does his utmost to meet the prisoner, a victim of agents of the secret police, the NKVD. A dedicated Bolshevik of integrity, the young prosecutor suspects foul play. His quest for justice will take him all the way to the office of the Attorney General in Moscow. In the age of the great Stalinist purges, this is the plunge of a man into the corridors of a totalitarian regime.”

“Two Prosecutors” is written and directed by Loznitsa, making it his first scripted film since 2018’s “Donbass.” The cast includes Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Alexander Filippenko, and Anatoli Beliy.

“Two Prosecutors” premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it received positive reviews from critics before going on to screen at the Toronto and New York film festivals.

“Loznitsa’s films are always informational and precise, and if some viewers might find the dialogue-driven approach clotted and impenetrable, it certainly creates an aura where you wonder how the film might open up to those even more informed or with living memory of the Soviet Union,” David Katz wrote in his IndieWire review. “And with Loznitsa’s Western European credentials and industry acclaim, it does flatter what audiences from that region probably wish to have confirmed for them about life in the Eastern bloc. Ultimately, ‘Two Prosecutors’ is like a perfect 50-50 cocktail of dread and dialogue, the vodka being whichever you’d choose, making the inevitable feel capable of deferment, before it strikes more devastatingly than you’d even think.”

A Janus Films release, “Two Prosecutors” opens in New York City on Friday, March 20, and Los Angeles on March 27. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.