On the first day of the cold spring of 1953, two events occur, though they are not comparable in importance: Fireman Fedya Aramyshev is arrested, and "the greatest leader of all times and peoples," Joseph Stalin, is found lying on the floor of his dacha.

In an early scene, the general encounters his own double in the hospital, and later, a "foreigner" arrives at his home, bearing news about a relative who allegedly lives abroad.

His family is evicted and placed in a crowded communal apartment, and Klensky himself, after being detained, is left to the criminals, who brutally beat and rape him.

Beria's voice, full of triumph, utters the first sentence of post-Stalinist Russia: "Khrustalyov, My Car!"

[4] During the Cannes premiere of Khrustalyov, My Car!, numerous critics walked out of the screening in disapproval due to its obtuse narrative and lengthy "unfunny" scenes of visual satire.

[6] Writing in 1999, Jean-Marc Durand of the Lyon-based newspaper Le Progrès stated that the film is "incomprehensible, but bewitching", and compared its director Aleksei German to Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.

[8] Tara Brady of The Irish Times gave it four out of five stars, stating that "People come and go without introduction or elucidation.