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 \u2014 as shown by sobering documentary Antidote \u2014 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\u2019s 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 \u2014 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\u2019s ordeals are documented alongside appearances by his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, seen imposingly reaffirming the couple\u2019s 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 \u2014 a veteran of the BBC\u2019s Panorama and Channel 4\u2019s Dispatches, whose documentaries include Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes\u00a0\u2014 Antidote makes cogent, compelling use of a narratively driven investigative format. Grozev\u2019s 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 \u2014 and chillingly representative of the current world order.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606In UK cinemas from March 14 and on Channel 4 as \u2018Kill List: Hunted by Putin\u2019s Spies\u2019 on March 27<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 \u2014 as shown by sobering documentary Antidote \u2014 is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-239398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239400,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239398\/revisions\/239400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}