‘My Undesirable Friends: Part II - Exile’ review: Julia Loktev’s portrait of Russian journalists in exile deepens in its second chapter

Dir: Julia Loktev. US. 2026. 355mins 

Julia Loktev’s 2024 documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air In Moscow offered a gripping vérité portrait of independent Russian journalists who, in late 2021 and early 2022, were trying to expose the tyranny of Vladimir Putin’s government, right at the moment that the free press was being threatened by his brutal regime. That film ended with her subjects fleeing the country, and this equally absorbing follow-up shows what happened after they were forced to find new homes.

Loktev’s subjects have lost their home but not their defiant spirit

Where Last Air In Moscow had the feel of a paranoid thriller, Exile deepens the viewer’s connection to Loktev’s journalists while introducing engaging new subjects. In the process, the filmmaker continues her expansive project’s intimate chronicling of the toll that a nation’s descent into authoritarianism takes on individuals.

Following its Venice out of competition premiere, Exile will next play the New York Film Festival. Like its predecessor, which enjoyed a healthy festival run and won a Gotham award for best documentary feature, the sequel sports a lengthy runtime – nearly six hours, divided into five chapters – which presents undeniable theatrical challenges. But a US rollout begins in October through Mubi, and Last Air In Moscow’s critical acclaim should carry over to this highly anticipated next chapter. 

As Exile begins, a group of independent Russian reporters, anchors and podcasters have just escaped in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. The sequel spans four years as Loktev journeys to Tel Aviv, Tbilisi, New York and elsewhere to catch up with her subjects, observing how they attempt to make new lives away from a homeland they fear they will never see again. Last Air In Moscow’s most compelling figures — including Anna Nemzer, a presenter on TV Rain, one of Russia’s last independent television channels — are again heavily featured. But as this tight-knit group becomes scattered across Europe, Loktev also focuses on others who enter the story.  

Dogged investigative journalist Elena Kostyuchenko continues her brave reporting, despite an alleged poisoning she believes was ordered by the Russian government. But Exile also makes time for her partner (and fellow journalist) Yana Kuchina, presenting glimpses of the couple’s blissful domesticity. We also meet Russian journalist Peter Ruzavin and Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk, endearing lovebirds whose adoration is only strengthened by the hellish sights they witness on the front line. 

Exile lacks the riveting dramatic engine that propelled Last Air In Moscow, which possessed a queasy air of dread as the journalists watched Putin’s crackdown on independent media intensify over the course of that documentary. In its place is a thoughtful character study that finds the shellshocked participants grappling with the far-ranging consequences of leaving Russia. Among the most surprising discoveries is that Loktev’s exiled reporters do not feel much safer. For one thing, they often receive chilly receptions in their new cities from angry locals who assume they agree with Putin’s war. But despite their guilt over not doing more to stop Putin, Exile’s subjects refuse to give in to despair, whether it’s by cultivating romantic relationships or pouring themselves into work.

The trust Loktev has built up with her subjects — unobtrusively filming them with an iPhone — yields remarkably candid moments. Nemzer’s stress is amplified by a tense argument she has with her husband Andrey about their daughter. Ksenia Mironova, whose journalist fiance Ivan Safronov remains incarcerated in Russia, boldly goes back for his trial, leading to an unhappy ending. Meanwhile, their colleagues try reviving TV Rain in Latvia, but struggle to report on Russia when they are no longer inside the country. Exile’s title proves to have multiple meanings as Loktev shows us people who are mourning their separation from their country, their sense of themselves and their loved ones. Some family members do not understand why these journalists are critical of Russia – an indication of how deeply influenced many Russians have become by state media’s pro-Putin propaganda.

Early on, Loktev’s camera captures individuals expressing hope that Russia’s war in Ukraine will be short-lived. Her subjects’ growing recognition that such optimism is misplaced is poignant, as is their realisation that Putin’s brand of authoritarianism has spread to other nations. Mironova’s reporting from Washington DC on Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration connects the dots politically between the two nations in grim fashion, provoking an emotional reaction from Mironova, who grew up adoring Barack Obama. But this is not Exile’s only sobering episode: the TV Rain news team fight back tears in 2024 once they learn that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison. 

If Last Air In Moscow was a salute to the passion of activist journalists fighting for truth and democracy, Exile is even more stirring in its admiration. Funny, resilient and vibrant, Loktev’s subjects have lost their home but not their defiant spirit.