Words of War


Words of War is a 2025 biographical drama film about the late Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Directed by James Strong, Maxine Peake as Politkovskaya, Jason Isaacs as her husband Alexander Politkovsky, and Ciarán Hinds as her Nobel Peace Prize–winning editor at the Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov.

Synopsis

Anna Politkovskaya was a journalist and human rights activist who persisted with reporting on the conflict in Chechnya despite considerable danger to herself and tried to expose corruption within Russia under the governance of Vladimir Putin. She continued in the face of poisoning, intimidation and violence before being the victim of a contract killing in the elevator of her house on October 7, 2006.

Cast

The project was announced as Mother Russia at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival with Maxine Peake, Jason Isaacs, and Ciarán Hinds attached to the main roles. The film had James Strong attached as director, working from a screenplay by Eric Poppen, with filming scheduled for UK and Latvia in 2022.
In December 2022, it was announced by Deadline Hollywood that Good Films Collective had teamed with Burbank-based Rolling Pictures on the production. Producers were listed as Miriam Segal and Mark Maxey. Principal photography was revealed to have commenced in Latvia, with filming scheduled to last into February 2023.
In 2024, Sean Penn joined the project as an executive producer.

Casting

In September 2022, Emma D'Arcy, Harry Lawtey and Ellie Bamber were added to the cast. Lawtey confirmed his role as Anna Politkovskaya's son and discussed the film within a geo-political context saying "The film has been planned for years and obviously now it has unfortunately become too relevant...being part of a project that feels current and meaningful is a privilege." D'Arcy was replaced by Naomi Battrick due to scheduling issues.

Controversy

In February 2023, the family of Anna Politkovskaya released a joint statement expressing concern about the factual accuracy of the script they had been given at the start of production, that they had not contributed in any way, nor had they granted permission for their names to be used in the film.

Release

In May 2024, it was reported that sales agent Concourse Media presented the film to buyers in Cannes under the title of Words of War.
Following the Toronto International Film Festival market in September 2024, it was announced that domestic distribution rights for the Words of War film were acquired by Decal Releasing and a theatrical release scheduled for 2025.
Variety reported that Words of War was released in U.S. theaters starting on May 2, 2025. The film was released in UK and Ireland cinemas on June 27, 2025.

Reception