REVIEW: My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow [2025]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 324 minutes
Release Date: August 15th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: The Film Collaborative / MUBI
Director(s): Julia Loktev

We must create a record.

At one point during My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow, lead subject Anya Nemzer speaks about the feeling of insanity that the cognitive dissonance of the moment has created. The topic comes up multiple times throughout the film with journalists trying to wrap their head around the fact everyone else seems to be going about their lives like nothing is amiss and I couldn’t help but think how that’s what it’s like here in America too—especially since the COVID pandemic was declared “over” as a result of corporate interests trumping public safety.

So, when Julia Loktev—the film’s Soviet-born, American citizen director—seeks to remind her friend that it’s not just happening in Russia, I nodded my head in agreement. Because her words weren’t meant to belittle Anya’s struggle. They came from a place of comprehension and solidarity. But you cannot deny the power of the TV Rain anchor’s half-joking response comparing Julia to Vladimir Putin. “Okay, Putin.” Tell us all how America is worse so we can accept what’s happening to us. It’s the exact sort of deflection political leaders use globally to pretend everything is fine. “We’re not as bad as them.” “They aren’t doing it, so why should we?” “They cheated first.”

Deflect. Deflect. Deflect. It’s propaganda at its finest and its impact is nearly impossible to combat in a country as big as Russia with so many citizens left in the dark. Think about the red states in America—the “land doesn’t vote” folk that democrats still think that catchy phrase will enlighten. They’re governed by conservatives bolstered by local stations owned as Fox News affiliates disseminating conservative talking points to cement control. Multiply them exponentially while also minimizing the means to procure alternative news sources and it’s no wonder some Russians believe the US installed a puppet government in the Ukraine that Putin must destroy to liberate its people.

It’s why stations like TV Rain and journalists like Anya are so crucial to try and stem the tide. We know it too because Putin began declaring institutions like it and public figures like her as “foreign agents.” Here you have the perfect catch-all as far as declaring all information they report as lies fed to them by American and European interests. It’s identical to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement equating legacy media with “fake news” and the easily proven truth with a “liberal agenda.” Where the difference lies (at least for now) is that republicans remain confident their slander is enough. Putin stopped taking that chance.

As learned throughout the first chapter of Loktev’s massive five-plus-hours-long documentary (truly built as a miniseries complete with mini credits after each episode, but you do what you must when no one will distribute), the label “foreign agent” is initially meant as a bureaucratically dense deterrent. You want to report the truth? Okay, but you better remember to declare yourself a “foreign agent” and attach a lengthy preamble of text defining what that means every time you broadcast on television, stream online, or post on social media. Fail to do so and you’ll be fined an arbitrary amount of money to always fear whether the next slip will bankrupt you. Fail again and you risk jail.

So, what does TV Rain and its cadre do? Turn it into a badge of honor. They make “special agent” t-shirts and do a James Bond photoshoot to morph the threat into a joke. They double-down on their coverage to ensure viewers know the words “foreign agent” doesn’t make them enemies of the state, but facilitators of truth. Anya, Sonya Groysman, Olya Churakova, Ira Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya, Ksyusha Mironovam, and Lena Kostyuchenko—amongst others—start to work together across different outlets to ensure Putin’s propaganda isn’t given freer rein than it already has. They do what they can to keep the promise of a democratic Russia alive even as it rapidly erodes before their eyes.

Loktev’s intent was to show their tenacity against the regime. To highlight these heroes who often thanklessly hold the government accountable regardless of that accountability meaning more outside their own borders than within. How could she know what was about to happen a few months later? That the “foreign agent” lists weren’t just an FSB scare tactic but an intentional first step towards weaponizing the international community and silencing the truth en route to escalating their eight-year war with Ukraine into a full-scale invasion. Not even the Russian soldiers training at the border could since, as they admit to Ira, she probably knew more about what’s happening than them.

Suddenly this project takes on a whole new context. As the danger escalates for Ukraine, it amplifies for these independent journalists too. Should they appeal the label? Should they preemptively apply for visas? Should they leave now? Each has their own unique circumstances (Anya has a family, Ksyusha’s journalist fiancé is in prison on a vague treason charge, Alesya would need to leave her non-journalist girlfriend behind, etc.) and you can’t judge any of them for the choices they ultimately make. Yes, being on the ground provides first-hand access, but staying free and alive abroad provides the ability to report. Russia is a very different beast than America. Our laws are also starting to no longer apply, but pressure remains an effective tool for justice. If you’re silenced in Russia, that’s it.

You cannot therefore underestimate how crucial a work My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow proves (Part II is advertised as being a document of the same women continuing their work in exile). The entire Putin playbook is laid out with full transparency simply by having all these journalists compare notes insofar as how their ability to do their jobs change with every passing day. How did they arrest you? What did they look for and confiscate? Was your trial rigged? Could they have bankrupted you but didn’t? They are feeling the government out as to where the boundary lines are just as the government is feeling out how much fascism the populace will accept without pushing back.

And then comes the invasion in chapters four and five. Putin’s playbook accelerates into full-scale isolationism by pulling out of the European Council and forcing international governments and businesses to pull out of Russia so he can confirm to his people they are the real enemy. Hypothesizing about leaving the country becomes bona fide planning now as Anya and the others realize a raid could occur at any moment simply because they dare to call Putin’s “special military operation” a war. Now we see the creative ways in which the opposition can stay vocal while not fully complying and the unimaginative ways brute force can be wielded to render it ineffective anyway.

That’s why I consider the quote “We must create a record.” to be the big takeaway. These women aren’t doing this for the money (I laughed when Ksyusha joked “Where’s all this foreign money we’re supposedly being paid?”) or the celebrity. The only “perk” their courage gains them is an FSB tail. It’s not about changing things either since Putin’s government is solidly entrenched with far too many in lockstep with his manufactured world view. They risk their freedom to do the work solely because the truth must be recorded somewhere. The hypocrisy and lunacy must make its way out of Russia so it can hopefully make its way back and reach new ears ready to finally listen.

So, it’s important Loktev doesn’t distill it down to a two-hour lecture. It’s only this effective if we see into these women’s lives beyond the work. Humanizing them earns our investment and empathy. It ensures they aren’t just cogs in a machine being worn down and thrown away. These are the true voices of Russia. The true defenders and lovers of Russia. Whereas Putin fights and lies to maintain control, these journalists investigate his methods and expose the truth to empower the Russian people to dare to stand-up and take that control back. And while that mission might not bear fruit any time soon there, hopefully its existence can awaken other countries better prepared to understand today.