'Words of War' Review: One of the Most Timely Movies of 2025

A journalist should never become the story, and yet, far too frequently, they do. Nearly twenty years ago, the assassination of American-Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya sent shockwaves around the world. She was a social commentator turned investigative journalist who unknowingly dedicated the final years of her life to giving Chechens a voice during the Second Chechen War and to exposing the corruption of Russia’s newly elected leader, Vladimir Putin. She was killed on Putin’s birthday in 2006, and is considered one of the first of his critics to die under his regime. Despite the ever-increasing relevance of Politkovskaya’s life and death, only two documentaries have been made about her.