Olivier Assayas' adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli's award-winning book follows the rise and fall of Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a former theatre and television director who becomes Vladimir Putin's (Jude Law) right-hand man and helps the modern tsar transform Russia into the quintessential 21st-century autocracy.

Russia, early 1990s. In the chaos following the fall of the Soviet Union, young television producer Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) is accepted into the inner circle of power. As a shrewd spin doctor, he carefully constructs the image of former KGB agent Vladimir Putin (Jude Law). One by one, he eliminates influential figures.

The deeper Vadim becomes entangled in his web of political manipulation, the further the consequences of his influence on Russian politics appear to reach. The Wizard of the Kremlin is directed by Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep, Personal Shopper) and based on the bestseller of the same name by Giuliano da Empoli. Paul Dano (The Fabelmans, Dumb Money) plays Vadim Baranov, Jude Law (Eden, The New Pope) plays Putin alongside Alicia Vikander (Firebrand, The Green Knight) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction, Asteroid City).