Overview
A gripping tale of a family's struggle against corruption in a small coastal town.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- austere
- foreboding
- serious film night
- arthouse cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a grand, uncompromising, and expertly acted social satire about corruption and institutional power.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The mayor uses municipal authority and legal mechanisms to seize Kolya's land and business, while the broader social order offers little protection.
Kolya's family and neighbors navigate alcoholism, domestic strain, and pervasive hardship in a remote coastal town.
The film's corrupt mayor, compromised institutions, and controversy over its portrayal of ordinary Russians make its critique of post-Soviet Russia central.
The Barents Sea shoreline, whale-haunted bay, and vast northern landscapes frame the family's increasingly powerless struggle.
Films like Leviathan, and why
The Hunt
shared bleak social realism, institutional corruption, moral entrapment, and an ordinary protagonist crushed by powerful forces
The Return
shared austere drama, corrosive family conflict, alcohol-fueled despair, and a hostile social environment
The Fool
shared Russian social realism, intimate domestic breakdown, and criticism of post-Soviet institutions
A Prophet
shared tragic examination of systemic power, desperate resistance, and emotionally severe realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Release Date
- 2014-09-24
- Runtime
- 141 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (1004)
Cast
- Aleksey Serebryakov
- Elena Lyadova
- Vladimir Vdovichenkov
- Roman Madyanov
- Anna Ukolova
- Aleksey Rozin
- Sergey Pokhodaev
- Platon Kamenev
- Sergei Bachursky
- Valeriy Grishko
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Klassiki
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Leviathan about?
- A northern Russian family battles a predatory mayor and an entire social order that appears designed to erase them.
- What is Leviathan like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Leviathan as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Leviathan violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Leviathan as moderate.
- What did critics think of Leviathan?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a grand, uncompromising, and expertly acted social satire about corruption and institutional power.
- Which films are like Leviathan?
- Films with a similar feel include The Hunt, The Return, The Fool, and A Prophet.
- How long is Leviathan?
- Leviathan runs 141 minutes.
- Where can I watch Leviathan?
- In United States, Leviathan streams on Klassiki.
