On August 20, 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent,[7] falling sick during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, and was hospitalized in serious condition.

Navalny blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin for his poisoning, while the Kremlin repeatedly denied involvement.

[8][9] The film shows how Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev and Maria Pevchikh, the head investigator for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, reveal the details of a plot that indicates the involvement of Putin.

The website's consensus reads: "Navalny is a documentary that's as gripping as any thriller – but the real-life fight against authoritarianism that it details is deadly serious.

"[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

[21] Guardian critic Phil Harrison awarded it 5/5 stars calling it "one of the most jaw-dropping things you'll ever witness", and "this terrifying documentary enters the realms of the far-fetched spy thriller – and yet it's all true".