If you enjoy stories based on history and the lives of aristocrats that feature secret doors, passageways and rooms hidden behind other rooms, A Gentleman in Moscow is a series you won’t want to miss.
At the moment we meet Count Alexander Rostov (Ewan McGregor), he’s about to face a Bolshevik tribunal. With many of his fellow aristocrats having been shot and killed, not to mention the assassination of the entire Royal family, to his surprise, he’s spared by a poem praising the revolution that's attributed to him.
He’s marched by armed guards back to the luxurious hotel where he’s been staying and warned if he ever tries to leave, he’ll be shot on the spot. Living in a hotel where your food is prepared by a chef and your sumptuous rooms have every luxury in them seems better than the fate many of his compatriots have faced. That is, until he’s marched upstairs, past his beautifully furnished rooms and up to a very cold, very barren attic that was once used for the servants of guests.
He’s allowed to take some of his belongings to his attic room, but the rest will go to the revolutionaries. He takes as many items as he can and tries to make himself as comfortable as possible in the frigid room. Dressing elegantly, the Count goes down to the warm dining room, where his food is provided – he’s allowed to choose anything he wants from the menu — even fine wine and other spirits.
Within the hotel, he notices a little girl (Alexa Goodall) who seems fascinated by him. She introduces herself as Nina, and she wants to know all about the lives of princesses. The Count is charming with everyone, including this child, and they become fast friends. In return for his fascinating stories about the aristocracy, and possibly to get an accomplice, she shows him a key she’s managed to get that allows her access to any room, including back rooms – rooms behind rooms – and secret passageways to get to them. He learns that his friend -- a Prince who is now allowed only to play violin to earn money for his keep -- is on a list of people who are set to be killed.
This all occurs in the first two episodes, and with the introduction of an eccentric actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and several other colorful characters, it looks like life in the Hotel Metropol will be anything but boring for the Count and the old friends who visit the hotel, along with the new friends he makes along the way, including many of the servants.
Nina seems poised to move on from the hotel at the end of the second episode, but hopefully that’s not the case, because whenever she and the Count get together, the story gets exciting. As Nina, Alexa Goodall steals every scene, even when she’s perched on the second floor watching the comings and goings of the people below. She brings an energy and an air of mystery that compels us to watch, to see what she’s bringing to the table each time she appears.
Based on the New York Times bestselling novel by author Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow begins streaming Friday, March 29, 2024 on Paramount+. ~Alexandra Heilbron
5 out of 5 stars.
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