This Rubik’s Cube of a drama has a false start: the performance has been delayed, we are told, as we are eased into its tricksy folds. Lukesh (Esh Alladi) is a lecturer who talks about cognitive illusions, the psychology behind belief systems and how the brain processes magic tricks – before we switch to scenes of his uneasy marriage to Natalya (Natalie Klamar).
From here, the plot grows far-reaching tentacles: Natalya’s backstory involves the early life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter of Joseph Stalin and her later defection to the US. Lukesh, meanwhile, is dealing with a psychology student, Harold (Oscar Adams), whose father is a white supremacist leader. Harold is based on Derek Black, whose father founded the white nationalist website Stormfront, though it is not overtly said.
