Passion Pictures, CNN Films, and Propagate Content are joining forces on The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door, a documentary about a notorious chemical weapon attack in the UK that triggered an international diplomatic crisis.
The film directed by Dan Vernon (The Changing Times of Ike White, Nailbomber: Manhunt) is set to premiere next month at CPH:DOX, the renowned nonfiction festival in Copenhagen. The documentary centers on an incident in 2018 when former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed on a park bench in the historic cathedral city of Salisbury, near Stonehenge.
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev holds an Oscar for ‘Navalny,’ the documentary in which he appears, at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grosev – who would later finger the Kremlin operatives behind the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – played a central role identifying who was behind the sneak attack on Skripal and his daughter. Grosev appears in what are described as “exclusive scenes” in the film that also features “rare, in-depth interviews with senior UK officials who led the response” to the Skripal poisoning, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, and leadership of MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service.
“A dramatic portrait of loyalty and betrayal,” notes a release, “and a story that resonates amid ongoing global tensions – the documentary explores the collision of two men: Sergei Skripal and Vladimir Putin, the dictator determined to settle an old score… The film charts how this local incident exploded into an international showdown, revealing the escalating shadow conflict between Russia and the West.”
In a statement, Passion Pictures Creative Director Hamish Fergusson, said, “At Passion we’ve been wanting to tell the extraordinary story of Salisbury for years and now we have the opportunity to do so with unparalleled access and direct testimony from those who walked the corridors of power and worked in the shadows as events played out, bringing fresh perspective from the world these events so dramatically foreshadowed.”
Filmmaker Dan Vernon commented, “I see this film as not only an opportunity to tell the dramatic assassination attempt and investigation but also the intertwined fates of two men that reflect a Russia torn between its past and its darkest ambitions. One of the most compelling characters in the film for me, is Salisbury itself – a sleepy medieval town, once best known for its stunning cathedral, that was suddenly thrust into the heart of an international crisis.”
The spire of Salisbury Cathedral seen in the distance behind police tape on July 5, 2018 in an area cordoned off in connection with the investigation into the attack on Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal.
CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP via Getty Images
The Skripal incident was previously dramatized in the 2020 BBC miniseries The Salisbury Poisonings that starred Wayne Swann as Sergei Skripal and Jill Winternitz as Yulia Skripal.
Regarding the new documentary, Amy Entelis, executive producer at CNN Films, said, “The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door is an incisive, deeply reported film that captures the far-reaching consequences of a single, extraordinary act. This is exactly the urgent, character-driven storytelling that defines CNN Films, bringing audiences inside pivotal moments that continue to shape our world.”
Howard T. Owens, executive producer and Co-CEO of Propagate, observed, “This film exposes the chilling reality of a state-sponsored attack carried out in plain sight, with consequences that continue to reverberate far beyond Salisbury. It delivers both the tension of a thriller and the insight of a definitive account, revealing the true stakes behind the headlines. Propagate is proud to help bring this powerful and globally significant story to audiences worldwide.”
The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door is a Passion Pictures Production for CNN Films in association with Propagate Content and West Buttermilk, directed by Dan Vernon. The film was developed by and is produced by Alex Brisland. Executive producers include Kari Lia, Hamish Ferguson, David Moulton and Andrew Ruhemann for Passion Pictures; Amy Entelis and Roxanna Sherwood for CNN Films; Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens for Propagate Content, and James Packer for West Buttermilk.
The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door marks the fourth collaboration between Passion Pictures and CNN Films: BAFTA and PGA Award-winning Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024); Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story (2021), and Emmy-nominated Legion of Brothers (2017). CNN Films and Propagate recently partnered on the documentary feature I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, directed by Marina Zenovich, now streaming on CNN and HBO Max.