‘The Rise of Wagner’ Review: A Potent Doc Study of a Mercenary Player in Global Politics
variety.comDennis Harvey Film Critic A creeping black spot on a darkening globe suffers some degree of illumination — not voluntarily, of course — in “The Rise of Wagner.” Benoit Bringer’s documentary about the Russian private army of mercenaries relies on a mix of news reports, human rights experts and sometimes anonymous witnesses to expose Wagner Group’s shadowy involvement in various conflicts over the last decade.
It’s a damning if necessarily rather fragmented view, since the organization remains cloaked in secrecy, its own government continuing to deny affiliation.
Offering global political insights as well as lurid true-crime-type content, this Hot Docs premiere is well-suited to broadcast slots for serious-minded nonfiction.
The Kremlin’s smokescreen on this subject — several times we see Putin blandly batting away related press questions, though he’s photographed with top Wagner personnel often enough — simply extends the company’s internal policies from the start.
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