Major Grom: Plague Doctor () is a 2021 Russian superhero film directed by Oleg Trofim, based on the comic book series of the same name by the Russian publisher Bubble Comics, created by Artyom Gabrelyanov. It is the second film adapted from Bubble Comics, as well as the first feature-length film based on a Russian comic. Prior to that, the studio had released the short film Major Grom. It stars Tikhon Zhiznevsky in the lead role, alongside Lyubov Aksyonova, Aleksei Maklakov, Aleksandr Seteykin, Sergei Goroshko, and Dmitry Chebotaryov. The film is set in Saint Petersburg and tells the story of police major Igor Grom, an honest and skilled cop with unconventional methods, who pursues a vigilante murderer in the mask of a plague doctor.
A teaser for the film was first screened on 30 September 2017 at IgroMir / Comic-Con Russia 2017, after which the project faced difficulties in production for some time, with the team being disbanded and reassembled, and the concept of the film redone from scratch. Three years later, a full trailer was shown at Comic Con Russia 2020, with a tentative release date. Major Grom: Plague Doctor premiered on 25 March 2021 in St. Petersburg. The online premiere took place on 5 May 2021 on KinoPoisk HD and Netflix.
Major Grom: Plague Doctor received a moderately positive reception from critics: the overall quality of the work was noted, but the clichéd and unoriginal plot was also criticised. Some observers have claimed that the film denounces the Russian opposition and praises the police, but not all reviewers agreed with this opinion; the authors themselves have denied these allegations in several interviews. The film failed at the box office, collecting only 328 million rubles in the CIS, with a budget of 640 million rubles, but it proved popular on Netflix and Kinopoisk HD.
Plot
Saint Petersburg police major Igor Grom is chasing three bank robbers dressed in red sports suits and disguised as villainous hockey players from the popular Soviet cartoon Puck! Puck! He catches them, while causing significant property damage, and gets reprimanded by his superior, Colonel General Fedor Prokopenko.
Soon after, the trial of "rich boy" Kirill Grechkin begins; he is accused of fatally hitting a girl with his car. Despite the evidence against him, Grechkin is acquitted and the brother of the deceased, Lyosha Makarov, suspects the court of corruption. IT millionaire Sergei Razumovsky, founder of the social network Vmeste, and his friend Oleg Volkov, who grew up in the same orphanage as the deceased girl, are also outraged by the court's decision. At the same time, videos of the Plague Doctor appear on the internet—an avenger in a mask and a combat suit, armed with bombs and flamethrowers, who promises to "cleanse" the city of scoundrels. The Doctor burns Kirill Grechkin to death in his car. After the murder, Oleg comes to Razumovsky and confesses that he was the Doctor. Razumovsky is upset by this, but hesitates to turn his friend in to the authorities.
Grom, who witnessed the murder, is trying to investigate it and find the Doctor, who is now considered by many to be a hero. FSB officer Evgeny Strelkov, who arrives from Moscow to capture the Doctor, removes the major from the case. Instead, Grom and his new trainee, Dima Dubin, are sent to deal with the theft of twelve refrigerators. However, contrary to their official assignment, the two continue to investigate the Doctor's case, having received a tip from Grom's informant and unsuccessfully trying to knock information out of people associated with the criminal underworld. In the meantime, Grom saves a young woman from thugs, but she turns out to be journalist and blogger Yulia Pchyolkina, who staged the attack in order to get close to Grom and obtain information about the Plague Doctor case for her blog.
Meanwhile, the Doctor accumulates new victims: the head of a bank that defrauded depositors and the owner of a polluting landfill, along with the latter's entire family. Dubin speculates that the Doctor's next appearance will be at the opening of a casino, where the crème de la crème of St. Petersburg society will gather. Grom infiltrates the opening party, where he meets Pchyolkina and Razumovsky. Instead of the real Doctor, however, only his followers appear, wanting to rob the rich. Sergei Razumovsky tries to prevent the violence and dissuade them with money, but a fight ensues, in which Grom and a number of FSB officers capture the bandits. Grom is subsequently forced to resign from the police by Strelkov.
Despite his dismissal, he continues his investigation and learns about Razumovsky's childhood in the orphanage, and that he used to draw birds that looked like the Doctor's mask. Back at the casino, Pchyolkina had told Grom about Razumovsky's contract with Holt International, a company engaged in high-tech weapons development. It was Holt International that created the Plague Doctor's costume and equipment. Grom directly accuses Razumovsky of being the Plague Doctor. By this point, Sergei has realized that the accusation is true: "Oleg" was his secondary personality (Grom points out that according to official documents, the real Oleg Volkov died in the war in Syria a year before). His dark side takes over; he knocks Grom out with a blow to the head, puts the Doctor's suit on him, and tosses him near the site of his next murder. The police grab Grom, and Strelkov now believes that Igor is the Doctor.
Dubin and Pchyolkina help Grom escape from custody, and he goes on the hunt for the Doctor. Meanwhile, the vigilante publishes a new video: he calls on all his followers to fill the streets and lynch anyone they consider to be a villain. Spontaneous pogroms begin in the city. Razumovsky confesses to Igor that in this way, he wants to get rid of not only corrupt officials and rich people, but also his followers, whom he considers to be immoral imitators and misfits; in his opinion, the state will be forced to send troops and kill them, and Razumovsky will subsequently be able to create a "new Petersburg". A fight breaks out between Grom and Razumovsky, in which the Doctor almost wins, but Dubin and Pchyolkina come to Grom's rescue. Razumovsky is neutralized, and Pchyolkina reveals that she recorded his boasting speech, including his nefarious plans. Grom declares to the Doctor that he also sees problems in the country, but considers it unacceptable to solve them by means of murder.
Meanwhile, the pogroms quickly subside when a gang led by one of Grom's informants acts against the rioters. Lyosha Makarov, who participated in them, is planning to kill the corrupt judge who released Grechkin. When his grandchildren visit him, however, Lyosha realizes that he is incapable of committing the murder, and spares him. FSB officer Strelkov claims all credit for the apprehension of the Plague Doctor, while Grom is content to spend time with his new friends, Dubin and Pchyolkina.
In a mid-credits scene, Razumovsky is shown in a mental institution. His "dark side" speaks to him, telling him that "they" will soon be free. In a post-credits scene, Oleg Volkov is shown in a militant camp in Syria: it turns out that he is still alive, and he watches his friend Razumovsky's capture on television.
Cast Tikhon Zhiznevsky as Major Igor Grom, a police detective with the Saint Petersburg Police Lyubov Aksyonova as Yulia Pchyolkina, a blogger and journalist Aleksei Maklakov as Colonel General Fedor Prokopenko, Igor Grom's boss, head of the Saint Petersburg Police Aleksandr Seteykin as Dmitry "Dima" Dubin, a trainee at the Police of Russia, Igor Grom's partner Sergei Goroshko as Sergei Razumovsky / the Plague Doctor, a billionaire philanthropist, founder of the Vmeste social network as Oleg Volkov, childhood friend and bodyguard of Razumovsky Mikhail Evlanov as Evgeny Strelkov, a Federal Security Service officer assigned from Moscow to investigate the Plague Doctor case Kyivstoner (Albert Vasiliev) as Booster Ignat, Grom's informant and leader of the gang of football fans as Aleksei "Lyosha" Makarov, a boy from an orphanage Anton Bogdanov as "the Leader", one of the bank robbers Nikita Kologrivyy as "the Psycho", one of the bank robbers Oisel More Despaigne as "the Brute", one of the bank robbers Yuri Nasonov as Kirill Grechkin, the son of a billionaire Anna Nevskaya as Olga Isaeva, head of RosGarantBank as Philipp Zilchenko, owner of the landfill as Albert Bekhtiev, entrepreneur, owner of the Golden Dragon casino as Anna Terebkina, a news presenter Anastasiya Nemolyaeva as Elena Prokopenko, Colonel General Fedor Prokopenko's wife Igor Ivanov as Judge Sergey Bengalsky Konstantin Khabensky as Dr. Veniamin Rubinstein, psychiatrist (in mid-credits scene) Alexandra Cherkasova-Sluzhitel as Sofa, Dr. Rubinstein's assistant (in mid-credits scene) Vitaly Milonov (cameo appearance) as himself
Casting The filmmakers tried to use less famous actors as they were dissatisfied with the same few actors playing in many different films. Bubble had difficulties with the casting—in particular, with the selection of a lead actor to portray Igor Grom. Alexander Gorbatov, who played Grom in the short film, did not return to the role due to lack of interest in the project. The search for a new actor took a whole year. According to screenwriter and producer Roman Kotkov, "...we could not even imagine that it was so difficult to find a tall handsome man with intelligence in his eyes in Russia". Eventually, Tikhon Zhiznevsky was selected for the role. Zhiznevsky had to lose ten kilograms for the part, as well as undergo serious physical training in order to look more athletic. For this, he worked with coaches in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Dmitry Chebotaryov, another actor who took part in the film and who had known Zhiznevsky for a long time, recalls that he and many of Zhiznevsky's other acquaintances would never have thought that their friend would fit the part he was about to play, as he was mainly known for playing romantic roles.
For the role of Sergei Razumovsky, theatre actor Sergei Goroshko was chosen. In order to convincingly play the character, Goroshko compiled a complete biography of the character, from his birth until the events after the film, partly sourcing this from the comics as well as from the film's scriptwriters. Goroshko also had to lose weight for the role, in his case fifteen kilograms. The voice of the Plague Doctor in the mask is an overlap of the voices of Goroshko and Dmitry Chebotaryov.
Actor Dmitry Chebotaryov auditioned for both the roles of Igor Grom and Oleg, and, according to the producers, both auditions were successful, but he was eventually selected to play Oleg Volkov. Chebotaryov was the only actor among the main cast who did not have to change his appearance in any way for filming. Ukrainian rapper Kyivstoner was approved for the role of Booster Ignat, Grom's informant, due to his flamboyant personality. Almost all of his lines were improvised.
Politician Vitaly Milonov was invited to appear in a cameo as himself, since the studio needed a character who would condemn the actions of the Plague Doctor on the in-film television. Director Oleg Trofim was opposed to Milonov becoming this character since he did not want the film to have unnecessary allusions to real life, but Gabrelyanov insisted, and Milonov appeared in a short scene in which he committed to a ban of the Plague Doctor masks.
Production Initial plans