The Last Czars (Season 1)

The Last Czars (2019) is a Netflix docudrama mini-series you can watch online on iFILM. Across six episodes it traces how three centuries of Romanov rule collapsed in barely more than a decade.

At its heart is Russia's final emperor, Nicholas Alexandrovich — a devoted family man, hesitant and out of step with a country boiling over. His son's illness, the strange hold that Siberian mystic Grigori Rasputin gained over the empress, hunger and a ruinous war all tighten the noose heading into the winter of 1917. Dramatized scenes alternate with historians who sort the documented record from the legend.

It plays as costume drama with reenactments rather than a dry lecture, leaning on letters and diaries while filling the screen with palaces and court intrigue. A solid way in for anyone curious about the end of the monarchy who'd rather not wade through a textbook. Robert Jack stars as Nicholas. Stream The Last Czars online on iFILM.