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My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

Name: My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow
Director: Julia Loktev
Released: 2025
Duration: 324 min

Representation Score

6.4/10

Good

2025

Director

Julia Loktev

Runtime

324 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Julia Loktev’s documentary succeeds by emphasizing female leadership in a politically tense environment. By showcasing women as courageous figures navigating state repression, the film challenges traditional power structures. The film’s main strength lies in its thematic commitment to dismantling state authority. It presents the fight for independent media as a crucial act of resistance against systemic oppression, offering a progressive critique of centralized power. However, the film’s scope is limited by its specific subject matter. The focus on a localized Russian context leads to a lack of diverse ethnic and LGBTQ+ representation, making the diversity more thematic rather than demographic.

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Category Breakdown

Does My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on political freedom and free speech under pressure. While the vérité style allows for natural social interactions, there are no specific LGBTQ+ storylines or character arcs centered around queer experiences.

How does My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow portray gender?

Good

The documentary highlights female journalists like Anna Nemzer and Ksenia Mironova as key figures driving the narrative. These women are portrayed as intellectual leaders challenging a patriarchal state.

How racially and ethnically diverse is My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow?

Fair

The cast is primarily made up of individuals from a similar background, reflecting the film's focus on Russian society. The lack of diverse ethnic backgrounds is due to the specific geographic and political context.

How does My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film criticizes state-controlled institutions and authoritarianism. It emphasizes individual empowerment and truth over mandated patriotism, celebrating those who resist centralized power.

Does My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no significant depiction of physical or cognitive disabilities in the film.

Present on Screen

Highlights female journalists as the primary drivers of the narrative.
Challenges patriarchal state structures by emphasizing female intellectual leadership.
Offers a strong critique of state-controlled media and authoritarianism.

Limited or Absent

Could include more explicit LGBTQ+ storylines or character arcs.
The cast is predominantly homogeneous due to the localized setting.
Shows limited representation of physical or cognitive disabilities.

Official Synopsis

American filmmaker Julia Loktev, born in the Soviet Union, returned to Moscow in 2021 to make a documentary on the persistence of independent media journalism in Putin’s Russia—just months, as it turned out, before the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Structured in five chapters, Loktev’s film is an extraordinary vérité document of a moment of immense change and anxiety.

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