Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Film myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.By contrast with the sleek subterfuge depicted in spy movie Black Bag, real-world espionage in the Putin era — as shown by sobering documentary Antidote — is a grubby, blunt-force affair. The film focuses on Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, a star reporter for the investigative organisation Bellingcat (one of the production companies involved here). Near the start, it shows Grozev’s involvement in aiding a Russian whistleblower who could no longer countenance his involvement in developing chemical weapons of the novichok variety (digital trickery is used to disguise the faces of the man and his family).But then we see Grozev in the nightmarish position of investigating an assassination plot against himself. He discovers that the Kremlin has targeted him for execution, with certain members of a spy ring exchanging texts on the best way to kill him. (Three Bulgarian members of the group were last week convicted at the Old Bailey in London of conspiracy to spy, and three others had previously pleaded guilty.) Some of the correspondence is unthinkably callous and bloodthirsty — but perhaps the most horrifying touch is the use of giggling emojis.Antidote also covers the persecution of Putin opponents within Russia, notably the late Alexei Navalny, as well as Vladimir Kara-Murza. The latter’s ordeals are documented alongside appearances by his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, seen imposingly reaffirming the couple’s beliefs. Meanwhile, Grozev himself remains separated from his family because of the danger for all of them if he returns to their home in Austria.Directed by James Jones — a veteran of the BBC’s Panorama and Channel 4’s Dispatches, whose documentaries include Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes — Antidote makes cogent, compelling use of a narratively driven investigative format. Grozev’s unswayed commitment to unearthing hidden truths would be awe-inspiring even without the perils involved. Factor those in, and his situation is nothing less than chilling — and chillingly representative of the current world order.★★★★☆In UK cinemas from March 14 and on Channel 4 as ‘Kill List: Hunted by Putin’s Spies’ on March 27
