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The Brink of War

The Brink of War

Drama · History · 2026

President Ronald Reagan races against time to salvage a deal with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that could dismantle nuclear arsenals—or ignite disaster. With pressure mounting on all sides, every word spoken brings the world closer to peace... or destruction.

Movie details

The Brink of War

“Not all battles are fought with bullets.”

2026 Drama · History 1h 59m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.8 / 10

712 votes

Metacritic

51 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

President Ronald Reagan races against time to salvage a deal with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that could dismantle nuclear arsenals—or ignite disaster. With pressure mounting on all sides, every word spoken brings the world closer to peace... or destruction.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Brink of War?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Russell Gunn

Written by

Michael Russell Gunn

Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Ronald Reagan

Jared Harris

Jared Harris

Mikhail Gorbachev

J.K. Simmons

J.K. Simmons

George Shultz

Hope Davis

Hope Davis

Nancy Reagan

Branka Katić

Branka Katić

Raisa Gorbachev

Aya Cash

Aya Cash

Cleo

Guy Burnet

Guy Burnet

Alexander

Court is in session

Put The Brink of War on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.