‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ premiere review: House arrest in a fancy hotel

In the premiere of A Gentleman in Moscow, Count Rostov (Ewan McGregor) checks in to a hotel—and will only check out when he dies. Whether of natural causes or by firing squad remains to be seen. The Count, you see, has committed the heinous crime of being born an aristocrat. It’s benefitted him for some time, but in post-WWI Russia, the upper class is no more. “It’s not in the business of a gentleman to have occupations,” Count Rostov says, trying to justify his existence.

A poem expressing revolutionary ideologies spares the Count’s life in exchange for an unorthodox prison sentence. The Count has lived in a lush suite in Moscow’s Hotel Metropol for the past four years. He is placed under house arrest, with strict orders that he will be shot if one hair of his finely-combed mustache leaves the premises. (The mustache, it should be said, rivals Kenneth Branagh’s in A Haunting in Venice. It is comical and outrageously oversized, and yet, totally works.)

Friends in unlikely places

The series, based on Amor Towles’ 2016 bestseller, follows the Count over the years of house arrest. The first episode, “A Master of Circumstance,” covers the first ten weeks. First, the Count is removed from his cushy suite and placed in a cramped attic. It calls to mind a similar displacement in A Little Princess, if young Sara Crewe were a Russian aristocrat.

There is, however, a little girl at play here, though perhaps more reminiscent of Eloise at the Plaza. Nina (Alexa Goodall), a nine-year-old resident of the Metropol, is fascinated by the Count. They develop an unlikely friendship, as Nina is fascinated by the Count’s posh former life. In exchange, she takes him through the hotel’s secret passageways—places only servants and wily children would know to find. As it’s the Count’s only chance at a change of scenery Nina’s guidance is a welcome education.

Lest the Eloise and A Little Princess parallels make the series sound like the stuff of fairytales, A Gentleman in Moscow is grounded and sobering. The story slowly reveals itself like the contents of a Russian nesting doll. The Count’s minimal contact with the outside world is paralleled with flashbacks to the wistful freedom of his youth.

McGregor’s performance walks a fine line. It is also the best part of the series. The Count is twinkly-eyed and cheery when greeting the hotel employees he knows well, and haunted with melancholy as old friends from the prewar days visit him. McGregor masters both sides of the Count well, without veering into caricature.

Wonder and weariness in the Metropol

A Gentleman in Moscow captures a sense of wonder akin to a snow globe—the Hotel Metropol is glamorous and full of kind people, at least as far as the Count is concerned. A delectable score by Federico Jusid presents an elegance akin to what the Count would have had in his daily life before being forcefully moved to the dusty attic. The only false note is the cinematography; the handheld “shaky-cam” style is jarring compared to the Metropol’s polished veneer. If it’s a metaphor for the Count’s unease, it’s a thin one.

“A Master of Circumstance” only covers a few days of the Count’s house arrest, but sets up intriguing mysteries for the weeks to come. References to the Count’s family and people long gone are alluded to in hushed tones. Nina, who declares that there are “doors beyond doors” in the Metropol, can’t have shown the Count everywhere yet. There’s more to uncover here, beyond the blankets of snow that coat Moscow. Until next time, the Count will be up in his attic, envisioning a freedom that now only lies in dreams.

A Gentleman in Moscow drops weekly on Fridays through Showtime and Paramount+ with Showtime until May 17.

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Featured Image Courtesy of Parmount+ with Showtime