Aleksei Serebryakov makes angry, difficult men worth watching without making them easier to like. His performance in Leviathan is the place to start; the brief part in Anora leaves us wishing he had more to do.
Fi1m perspective
In Leviathan (2014), Nikolay Sergeev's anger is tiring to sit with, and Aleksei Serebryakov does not soften it to make him more appealing. We felt worn down by him, because the anger persists even when we want to take his side. That discomfort is part of why we rate the performance so highly. Serebryakov allows Nikolay to be difficult company without suggesting that we should stop caring about what happens to him. Andrey Zvyagintsev's direction leaves room for that awkwardness instead of making him an exemplary victim.
By then, Serebryakov had spent the 1990s and 2000s working in Russian cinema and television, with military and crime dramas a substantial part of the work. 9th Company (2005) and Cargo 200 (2007) belong to that earlier stretch, before Leviathan brought him international attention. English-language roles followed in McMafia (2018), Nobody (2021) and Anora (2024), alongside Russian projects. He is often cast as men under pressure, but Leviathan lets him show how exhausting such a man can be for the people closest to him.
Elena Lyadova's Liliya Sergeeva keeps the family scenes in Leviathan from existing only to explain Nikolay's troubles. Her unhappiness matters in its own right, and Serebryakov's forcefulness does not make her merely someone who reacts to him. The film's religious symbolism grows heavy, but the two actors keep the domestic unhappiness convincing. Zvyagintsev gets the most out of Serebryakov by allowing us to care about Nikolay without treating his view of the household as the only one that counts.
In Sean Baker's Anora, he and Darya Ekamasova play Ivan's parents, and both are excellent in brief parts. Our complaint is that the film gives us too little of them. Baker also edits, and the extended middle stretch of driving and questions repeats its comic business until it begins to drag. We wanted more of Serebryakov and Ekamasova, though an effective small part is not proof that a larger one would work as well. Choose Leviathan for an evening in his company, but do not expect him to make it comfortable.
Biography
Aleksei Serebryakov is a Russian stage and film actor. He began acting as a teenager and trained at the State Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) in the workshop of Oleg Tabakov, graduating in 1986. He was subsequently an actor at the Tabakov Studio Theatre until 1991.
Serebryakov has appeared in numerous Russian films and television series. His credits include the role of Nikolay in Leviathan (2014), Yulian Kuznetsov in Nobody (2021), Nikolai Zakharov in Anora (2024), and Dmitri Godman in the series McMafia (2018). He received a Nika Award for Best Actor for his performance in Van Goghs (2018). In 2012 he moved to Canada with his family.
