The first trailer for the historical drama “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” has been released. The Russian-language film focuses on the last years of the life of Emperor Nicholas II and his family, and the collapse of the monarchy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Sergei Kozlov. The film will be released in Russia on 24th September 2026.

The plot covers the period from the beginning of the First World War (August 1914) to the tragic death of the last Russian Tsar and his family in Ekaterinburg on 17th July 1918. In their work, the authors relied on archives that shed light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including NicholasII’s own relatives and generals.

“This is an invitation to live with the protagonists during the last years of a great empire, to share their aspirations, horror and catastrophe,” said Producer Konstantin Ernst. “It is not a lost page of the past, but an eternal story about how the world begins to collapse, when betrayal becomes the norm, and loyalty goes out of fashion.”

NOTE: for English (or other languages) subtitles, click on the Closed Captioning [CC] button, and use Google Translator and select language of choice. Duration: 1 minute

The director is Vasily Chiginsky. The role of Nicholas II is played by Vitaly Kishchenko (b. 1964), and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna was played by Ksenia Kutepova (b .1971). Other actors include Denis Propalov, Ivan Kolesnikov (“Peter I: The Last Tsar and The First Emperor“), Ekaterina Guseva (“Anna Karenina. Musical“) and Dmitry Dyuzhev (“Brigade“), who plays the role of Grigory Rasputin. The script is based on the book by Russian author Sergei Kozlov. To ensure historical accuracy, archivists, historians and members of the clergy were consulted – something which, British and American documentaries and film makers seldom do!

Filming of “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” took place in St. Petersburg, Perm and Tobolsk. The key location was the Ipatiev House, where the Imperial Family and their four faithful retainers spent the last 78 days of their lives. Since the original building in Ekaterinburg was demolished in 1977, researchers, artists and set designers recreated it from scratch, using archival plans and photographs to accurately match the Ipatiev Houses’ original interiors.

© Paul Gilbert. 20 August 2026