Maxine Peake's "tense" and "absorbing" real-life drama is now streaming for free

ITVX has added a powerful drama based on a true story to its streaming catalogue. Starring Maxine Peake, Words of War is a 2025 film which tells the story of the late Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Politkovskaya was a journalist and human rights activist who tried to expose the corruption of Vladimir Putin's regime as well as reporting on the conflict in Chechnya.

The film was directed by James Strong, who helmed the much-lauded ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

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Alongside Peake, it also stars Jason Isaacs as her husband Alexander Politkovsky and Belfast's Ciarán Hinds as Dmitry Muratov, her editor at the Novaya Gazeta who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.

Film Ireland wrote of Words of War: "This tense, powerful film, based on a true story, follows the struggles of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

"Given the state of today's world, Words of War cements the debt of gratitude owed to Anna for her efforts. This is a film that's definitely worth seeing and absorbing."

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The Post NZ said it was "best viewed as a historical allegory for what’s unfolding on at least two fronts in the world today, rather than a traditional biopic, Words of War is a solidly told, sometimes harrowing drama."

Common Sense Media described Peake as a "force to be reckoned with as late Russian journalist Politkovskaya in this powerful biographical drama."

While Collider wrote that "Words of War may not be a film that does anything stylistically or creatively to reinvent the wheel, but it has a message that transcends the bounds of art."

Words of War is streaming now on ITVX.

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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.