# Sparta (2018)

> A Russian school-set miniseries in which a mysterious game promising fulfilled desires gradually seeps into students' daily lives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/69373

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 54 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery, crime
- Created by: Ilya Tilkin
- Network: Channel One
- Cast: Valeriya Shkirando, Artyom Tkachenko, Alexander Petrov, Oksana Bazilevich, Olga Sutulova, Mikhail Grubov, Fillip Gorenshtein, Marina Kaletskaya
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6840106/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tense, paranoid, brooding, unsettling, atmospheric

## Synopsis

S'parta (2018) is a Russian crime mystery limited series created by Ilya Tilkin and broadcast on Channel One. Its premise is an eight-episode, single-season story built around a mysterious game called Sparta, one that promises to make every desire come true and has no stated rules. Its characters are drawn from a school setting, with a cast led by Valeriya Shkirando and Artyom Tkachenko, alongside Alexander Petrov as Barkovsky and Oleg Gaas as Gosha Dovzhenko. The engine of the show is the uneasy spread of the game into ordinary routines, as students are pulled deeper into its pull while their lives begin to fray and the boundaries between play and reality blur. Each episode builds dread through small social betrayals, secrets and shifting loyalties, giving the story a steady, mounting pressure rather than a case-of-the-week structure. The tone is tense and unsettling, mixing youthful restlessness with a paranoid sense that something unseen is steering events. Fans of Black Mirror and Mr. Robot will find resonance in its treatment of technology, temptation and the fragile line between wish fulfilment and harm. Set in contemporary Russia, it offers a compact, brooding viewing experience that rewards close attention.

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