The Fourth State 2012

The film opens with a man stepping out of a Moscow apartment building, sensing something unsettling in the basement but choosing to walk away. Moments later, the entire building erupts in a devastating explosion, setting a shadowy tone for a story braided with politics, danger, and incomplete truths.

Thirteen years pass before a German tabloid journalist named Paul Jensen, [Moritz Bleibtreu], arrives in Moscow to work for a magazine steered by his late father’s friend Onjegin, [Rade Šerbedžija]. At a street corner, Paul witnesses a brutal street assassination—the target is a prominent journalist whose TV program had become a thorn in the government’s side. This moment drags Paul into a web of suspicion and media intrigue that will define his stay in Russia.

Paul teams up with Katja, [Kasia Smutniak], a determined journalist who wants to publish the story about the slain colleague. Her editor is wary, but Paul proposes a workaround: reframe the piece for the celebrity section, drawing public attention while keeping it off the dangerous front pages. Their collaboration deepens over an evening at a bar, where Katja confides that the deceased journalist knew Paul’s father, and the two adults share a reckless, whiskey-fueled dance that hints at something more personal.

The next day, they attend a protest together. Police intervene, and Paul shields Katja as they slip away to his apartment, where their attraction culminates in a shared night. Yet the morning after reshapes the relationship: Katja discovers that Paul published the article without his editor’s sign-off, a reckless breach that jeopardizes both of them and the publication. The editor warns Paul to keep distance from any Russia-related stories, especially involving Katja. Dima, Paul’s partner in the field, also cautions him against entangling love with Russian politics, a warning that only adds to Paul’s confusion.

A party introduces a tense twist: Katja appears distracted, and as they pass a subway entrance, she darts inside. Seconds later, a subway bombing rips through the station, throwing Paul, unconscious, and leaving him to wake in a hospital under the scrutiny of police. Authorities allege that a backpack he helped carry for Katja contained explosives, and they claim Katja died in the attack. Paul is charged with terrorism and is confronted with damning evidence that he cannot easily refute.

Onjegin visits Paul in a holding cell and explains that he will be kept in detention until a seven-month-long trial. Paul is then sent to a notorious prison nicknamed “Little Chechnya,” home to a large number of Chechen detainees. There, he is roughly beaten until he is saved by Aslan, [Mark Ivanir], the cunning and formidable leader of the Chechen inmates. Aslan shares a painful memory of Paul’s late father, Norbert Jensen, and recaps how Norbert once interviewed him. He also opens Paul’s eyes to the tangled connections between oil, terrorism, and money, and begins to guide him through a brutal new reality.

Paul learns that a prison snitch is feeding information to the prison commander. When Aslan tracks down the betrayer, Paul is forced to watch as the other inmates execute him. The danger escalates: Aslan is then taken away and murdered, leaving Paul to navigate a precarious landscape on his own. Facing grim options, Paul signs a contract that would expel him to Germany in exchange for fair treatment—an agreement he hopes will buy him safety. He is driven toward the airport, but the moment he believes he is being taken away, he bolts from the car and escapes his guards.

On the run, Paul reconnects with Dima, but authorities intensify their pursuit. He eventually uncovers the shocking truth: Katja is alive, and she was used by the authorities as bait to trap him. Fueled by this revelation, Paul confronts Onjegin with evidence regarding his father’s papers that expose the state’s secretive manipulations at the dawn of Chechnya’s war. Onjegin then arranges for Paul to leave Russia using his money and influence, and the two part with Katja. As Paul lands in Germany, he watches a live broadcast reporting Onjegin’s assassination, a stark end to a chapter where trust proved impossible and truth proved even harder to grasp.

Throughout this journey, the story binds together personal risk, political machinations, and the fragile line between journalism and conspiracy, leaving the audience to ponder how much one man’s pursuit of truth can cost in a world where power often rides on silence and denial.