Kraken (film)

Kraken (Russian: Кракен) is a 2025 Russian science fiction monster film with horror elements, directed by Nikolai Lebedev, who co-wrote the screenplay with Aleksey Sidorov.^[3][4] The film stars Alexander Petrov, Viktor Dobronravov, Aleksei Guskov, Diana Pozharskaya, Anton Rival, Sergei Garmash, and others.^[5]

The submarine Ataman Yermak, under the command of Captain First Rank Alexander Voronin, is in distress while transiting the Greenland Sea. Before the sinking, one of the crew members notes activity of an unknown nature: "The seabed is rising", he reports, after which the submarine vanishes without a trace. The Russian Navy dispatches the nuclear submarine Zapolyarye for a rescue operation. The missing submarine was carrying a secret weapon, which must now be destroyed at all costs.

The Zapolyarye is commanded by Captain Viktor Voronin, Alexander Voronin's younger brother. They share a complex family relationship. Counter Admiral Olshansky is dispatched alongside Viktor, who could assume command if Voronin, due to the personal nature of the operation, begins making poor decisions.

Geological research at a foreign polar station in northern waters disturbed the Kraken, a colossal monster lurking on the seabed. The Kraken sank the Ataman Yermak, but some of the crew survived.

• Alexander Petrov as Viktor Voronin^[6]
• Viktor Dobronravov as Alexander Voronin^[7]
• Aleksei Guskov as Counter Admiral Olshansky
• Diana Pozharskaya as Julia Brown, a Swedish scientist with Russian roots who finds herself on a boat and seems to fall in love with the captain
• Anton Rival as Oskar, a French scientist and Julia Brown's colleague
• Sergei Garmash as Admiral Belousov
• Nikolai Kozak as Vice Admiral Sokolov
• Aleksandr Ratnikov as Tatarinov
• Sergei Kempo as Koshkin
• Oleg Gaas as Ipatov, commander of the hydroacoustic group
• Daniil Popov as Antushev
• Vladislav Khitrik as Mishukov, a navigator
• Spartak Sumchenko as Sekach
• Petr Rykov as Shirokorad
• Vasily Brichenko as Tarasyuk
• Egor Kharlamov as Prudnikov
• Dmitry Sokolov as Safonov
• Sergei Khachaturov as Tapazyan, an officer
• Filipp Ershov as Varikash, a chief cook
• Aleksandr Palchikov as Dorodnov
• Aleksandr Brykin as Erykalov, acoustician
• Kirill Antonov as Stenko
• Mikhail Evlanov as a physician
• Sergei Boytsov as Mitya Mekhanikov, a rescued sailor from the sunken submarine Ataman Yermak
• Mikhail Danilyuk as Polivtsev
• Stanislav Demushin as Panov, a sailor
• Miroslav Dushenko as Roshchin
• Danil Nikitin as Vasilev, a sailor
• Lev Semashkov as Zubov
• Denis Khokhrin as Golubev
• Anton Shokalyuk as Ivanov, a sailor
• Vitaly Konovalov as Vitaly, a sailor
• Yuri Plotnikov as a sailor
• Aleksey Protsenko as a sailor
• Roman Dudich as Semyon, a mechanic
• Kristina Brodskaya as Irina Voronina, Alexander Voronin's wife
• Anna Kamenkova as Viktor and Alexander Voronin's mother
• Konstantin Khabensky as the father's voice

The film has been in development since 2021.^[5] Central Partnership Film Studio was in charge of production. Nikita Mikhalkov's TriTe Studio also participated, with support from the Russia-1 television channel and the Cinema Fund.

The film's location shoots took place in the autumn of 2023 in the towns of Severomorsk and Zaozyorsk, Murmansk Oblast, and then continued in Tula and Moscow.^[5][8] The film was shot in the Murmansk Oblast, among ice floes in temperatures down to -25 degrees Celsius.

The actors had to warm themselves up with hot tea and use portable heaters. The film's creators used the interiors of the Severodvinsk ship, which was docked in the town of Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, as the Zapolyarye boat. All the actors had to undergo training on evacuating through the hatches of a real submarine. Thirty sailors from the Northern Fleet were recruited as extras. They were also responsible for instructing the film crew.

Yulia Shagelman in Kommersant described the film as being made according to 1990s Hollywood standards and belonging to the creature feature genre.^[9] Pavel Voronkov (Gazeta.ru) described Kraken as a film devoid of deep ideology, yet spectacular and dynamic, living up to audience expectations. He described the film as "deliciously absurd," at times reminiscent of Roland Emmerich's Hollywood blockbusters, and, despite the absurdity of the proceedings, it keeps the viewer entertained.^[10]

• Kraken at IMDb