Year: 2017
Runtime: 89 mins
Language: Russian
Director: Sarik Andreasyan
During the Cold War, the "Patriot" organization secretly assembled a team of superheroes representing various Soviet republics. For years, these individuals concealed their abilities, but when the nation faces unprecedented challenges, they are compelled to reveal themselves and embrace their heroic roles. The team must now confront threats while navigating the complexities of their dual identities and the political landscape of the era.
Warning: spoilers below!
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During the Cold War, a secret program known as Patriot gathers a team of Soviet superheroes, engineered to defend the motherland against superhuman threats. The squad represents the diverse nationalities of the Union, and each member brings a striking power: Arseniy / Arsus can morph into a massive, bear-like warrior; Temirkhan / Khan fights with blazing speed and a pair of curved swords; Ler / Lernik tames earth and stone; and Kseniya can vanish underwater, becoming unseen. Together they embody a remarkable blend of strength, agility, and mystique, and they are meant to stand as a united shield for a country uneasy about the world’s growing superhuman threats.
The program’s progress exceeds the mission of a prior project, Module-1, prompting the brilliant but dangerous mastermind behind it all, Avgust Kuratov. After a confrontation that leaves Patriot’s lab in ruins, Kuratov survives the blast by clinging to life with improvised chemicals and rebuilds himself as a cyborg who can generate electricity and command machines. He also engineers a clone army of himself, determined to prove his own genius to a world that doubts him. In the chaos that follows, the four Patriot guardians—[Arseniy / Arsus], [Temirkhan / Khan], [Ler / Lernik], and Kseniya—slip into hiding for years, each retreating to a different corner of the vast Soviet landscape.
In the present day, a routine training exercise goes violently wrong when walking robots turn on their handlers and kill several officers. The Ministry of Defence decides to revive Patriot, with Maj. Elena Larina taking charge. She tracks down the four missing guardians: [Ler] meditating in Armenia, [Khan] living on the steppes of Kazakhstan, [Arsus] in a remote cabin in northern Siberia, and [Kseniya] performing stunts in a Moscow circus. Their first mission is a high-stakes raid on Kuratov’s laboratory, housed in an old factory, but the team is quickly captured.
Kuratov offers the Guardians a chance to join him, but they refuse, and he retaliates by binding three of them inside a magnetic field and injuring Ler in the process. He then heads to a military facility in Noginsk to seize tanks and other vehicles, launching an assault on Moscow itself. His plan centers on a beacon capable of transmitting a signal to a network of satellites, a so‑called Module-2 Project, which he intends to bend to his will and, by extension, bend the world to his commands. A protective force field around the beacon keeps him safe, and his manipulation of machines strands the city’s defenders in the crossfire. In a bitter moment of betrayal, a Soviet military collaborator, Major-General Nikolai Dolgov, seeks reward for his help, and Kuratov responds by strangling him to death.
Elena acts quickly to secure Kuratov’s remaining clones and rescue the imprisoned Guardians. She reunites them at a Patriot facility, where they receive combat training and upgraded suits and weapons, reforging their purpose as a possible counterweight to Kuratov’s power. The Guardians regroup and head for Moscow, with [Kseniya] leading a stealthy push through the streets alongside [Arsus], while [Ler] handles defenses in an underground car park and [Khan] attempts to breach the beacons from the sky using air support. The team breaches a shopping mall connected to the tower-beacon and navigates a treacherous path along an iron bar that links the mall to the beacon. They’re fired upon by Kuratov’s troops stationed on a separate pipeline, and [Khan] swings across, cutting a critical pipe to bring down the advantage of Kuratov’s men.
In a crucial moment, [Kseniya] grabs the power source to short-circuit the beacon, taking a hit in the process but managing to disable the transmission long enough for the Guardians to regroup. They confront Kuratov atop the tower, yet his power remains a formidable obstacle. [Khan] unleashes his super-speed, lashing the team to a grappling rope that he then attaches to an airplane to escape. Kuratov sabotages the controls, forcing a perilous plunge into a river below, where the Guardians emerge shaken but alive. The idea of returning to finish the beacons is tempting, but Elena steps in with a pragmatic warning: they can combine their powers into a final surge, a beacon of energy that could obliterate the threat at its source — possibly at the cost of their own lives.
The Guardians decide to pool their abilities, gathering their energy in a coordinated blast that tears down Kuratov’s tower and the supporting skyscrapers. Kuratov falls to his death amid the collapsing mass, his grand design undone as the city begins to recover. Elena observes that while Kuratov claimed credit for creating the Guardians, the truth is that they built themselves through cooperation, resilience, and the stubborn will to protect the people. After the dust settles, they rendezvous with Elena in a rebuilt Moscow, choosing to return to ordinary lives while contemplating further service to the Patriot organization. As they walk away, Elena quietly reveals that “we found other Guardians.”
We found other Guardians.
In a brief post-credits moment, Elena is shown engaging a mission-seeking soldier after his truck stalls. When questioned, the soldier simply states that “Ferrum” has sent him on an unspecified assignment, hinting at a broader network and newer adventures to come.
Ferrum has sent him as part of an unspecified mission.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:00
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