The Cathedral (Season 1)

The Cathedral (2021) is a Russian historical drama you can watch online on iFILM. The story opens in 1700, with the empire on the edge of sweeping change. Ivan Starshov, a young serf, is hopelessly in love with Maria, the daughter of his master — a match the rigid class divide makes impossible.

A personal tragedy drives Ivan out of his village. He refuses to accept the meek fate he was born into and enlists in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. From there the series moves through major battles, the reforms of Peter the Great, and one stubborn conviction: that a man born a peasant doesn't have to die one. Sergey Marin leads the cast, joined by Svetlana Ivanova, Alexander Baluev and Alexey Bardukov, under director Sergey Ginzburg. It blends battlefield scale with melodrama and the lavish costume look of an era in flux. A good fit for fans of sweeping Russian sagas about a small man set against big history. Stream The Cathedral (2021) online on iFILM.