--- title: "Russian Doll" year: 2019 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/russian-doll" fi1m_score: 83 critics_score: 87 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-17T13:50:22.897988+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T13:50:23.296436+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Russian Doll (2019) Created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland · MPA TV-MA · Comedy, Drama **Fi1m score: 83** · Critics 87 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* Dies, wakes in a bathroom, lights a cigarette; the first person in a time loop to treat it as a scheduling problem > Natasha Lyonne dies at her own birthday party, again and again, and turns a familiar premise into a sharp, short, unexpectedly kind comedy about a woman who would rather die than be looked after. The last episode overreaches; the first seven do not. ## Synopsis New York, the East Village. Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne), a software engineer with a mane of red hair and a cigarette always going, is turning thirty-six at a party thrown by her friend Maxine (Greta Lee) in a flat that used to be a yeshiva. She leaves with a stranger, goes looking for her missing cat, Oatmeal, and is killed by a taxi. Then she is back in Maxine’s bathroom, staring at the same mirror, with the same Harry Nilsson song playing. It keeps happening. Between deaths she visits Ruth Brenner (Elizabeth Ashley), the therapist who half raised her, looks in on her married ex John Reyes (Yul Vazquez), and starts to wonder what the building has to do with it. ## Review Nadia Vulvokov is thirty-six, works in software, smokes constantly and dies, on the night of her birthday, under a taxi. Then she is back in her friend’s bathroom, and the party is still going on outside the door. *Russian Doll* was created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, and its premise is the one [*Groundhog Day*](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day) made famous in 1993. What they have done with it is sharper, shorter and a good deal sadder than that promises, and we recommend it warmly. Eight episodes, none wasted. The series keeps returning to the bathroom, and Michael Bricker and Diane Lederman have built it to be looked at repeatedly. It is small, tiled, lit from a ring around the mirror, and the door handle is shaped like a revolver. Maxine’s flat is a former yeshiva, dark wood and ceilings too high for the furniture, and Chris Teague shoots the party in reds and ambers thick enough to pour. Every time Nadia comes back the same Harry Nilsson song is playing, and by the fifth time its jaunty piano sounds like a threat. Joe Wong’s score keeps out of its way. Jen Rogien puts Lyonne in a long dark coat and a black top through every death; the clothes never tell you what day it is. Lyonne is the show. She has a voice like a gravel path and the walk of someone late for something she does not want to attend, and she plays Nadia as a woman who regards her own deaths as an administrative nuisance. The first two or three are funny. Then there is a fall down a flight of stairs, played straight, and Lyonne looks up with the face of someone who has started to count, and we stopped laughing abruptly. It was the face that did it, not the fall. From then on the deaths frighten as often as they amuse. The people around her know her too well. Greta Lee’s Maxine hosts the party with a chicken she never finishes cooking and a stare that forgives nothing. Yul Vazquez plays John Reyes, Nadia’s married lover, and gives him a decency the script could have withheld. Elizabeth Ashley, as Ruth Brenner, the therapist who took Nadia in when her mother could not cope, is the warmest presence in it, and the scenes in Ruth’s flat are where the show lets its guard down. Chloë Sevigny appears as Nadia’s mother, Lenora, in ways we will not describe. Then there is Charlie Barnett’s Alan Zaveri, a tidy, anxious man whose night is going as badly as Nadia’s, and whose arrival a third of the way in turns this into a double act. Barnett plays him with his shoulders up round his ears and his flat ordered to the inch, and the contrast with Lyonne’s mess gives the writers, among them Headland, Allison Silverman, Jocelyn Bioh and Alice Ju, something to push against. The two of them arguing about whose fault the universe is are the best scenes in the series. The flaws are at the end. The eighth episode has to decide how much to explain, and its answer is more mystical than the seven before it led us to expect. A strand about the building’s history, and another about things going missing from the world, are raised and not quite settled. We minded less than we might have, because by then we cared about the two of them; a viewer who came for the puzzle may find the solution thinner. Headland, Lyonne, Jamie Babbit and Alexander Buono share the directing, and you would not know where one hands over to the next. Most time-loop stories are about a man learning to be nicer. This one is about a woman learning to let anyone close enough to be nice to her, which is harder to write and sometimes harder to watch. A second season of seven episodes arrived on 20 April 2022; this review is of the first, which stands on its own. It carries an 18 certificate, mostly for Nadia’s mouth. Watch it in two sittings, with the lights on, and look nothing up in between. *Fi1m score 83, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are unanimous. Eleven critics, none mixed, none negative, and the praise lands in the same two places: Natasha Lyonne’s performance as Nadia, and the way the series handles a time-loop premise that most expected to go stale within an episode. Critics agree the loop is a means rather than the point, and that the show uses it to get at grief and trauma without losing its jokes. Lyonne and Headland’s shared sensibility is credited more than once for keeping the tone caustic and warm at the same time. The reservations are small and scattered. Consequence suggests the series rewards patience more than it rewards a casual viewer, and Paste allows that the construction is shaggy in places while still calling it nearly perfect. The Hollywood Reporter stops just short of calling the resolution of the premise a complete success. The spread runs from four stars to five with nobody below, so the disagreement is about degree rather than direction. ### Reviews we read (11) - **Variety**, Caroline Framke (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the series striking, smart, spiky, funny, devastating and bizarre, following a misanthrope through repeated nights of trauma and revelation. It praises the perfect marriage of Lyonne and Headland’s acerbic sensibilities and the seamless blend of comedy and drama. [Read](https://variety.com/2019/tv/reviews/russian-doll-review-lyonne-headland-poehler-netflix-1203112490/) - **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a great, surprising, and affecting show that dodges familiar tropes of its premise while delivering an uncompromising portrait of its flawed female lead. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2019/01/russian-doll-netflix-review.html) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the series a masterful dark comedy, love story, and puzzle box. Each element is brilliant, with the show delivering surprising emotional and narrative payoffs. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/russian-doll-review-netflix-ending-spoilers-1202040407/) - **The Guardian** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the series endlessly impressive and idiosyncratic, praising its fertile time-loop premise and strong ensemble. They single out Natasha Lyonne's magnificent performance as the caustic, furious lead Nadia. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/01/russian-doll-review-natasha-lyonne-groundhog-day-amy-poehler-leslye-headland) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (80/100, inferred): The review describes a twisty, caustic 'Groundhog Day'-esque journey that is sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying and ultimately satisfying. It singles out Lyonne’s assured performance and the show’s near-total triumph in resolving its high-concept premise. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/russian-doll-review-1177322/) - **Collider**, Haleigh Foutch (★★★★★): The review calls it a brilliant, propulsive series balancing sincerity, comedy, and genre elements. It commends the tight construction, Lyonne's layered performance, and the creative team's talents, noting it's binge-worthy and rewatchable. [Read](https://collider.com/russian-doll-netflix-review/) - **Paste**, Alexis Gunderson (9.5/10): Describes it as a nearly perfect, shaggy yet smartly constructed puzzlebox series. Praises the creative team, the lived-in performances, symbolic depth, and emotional truth, urging viewers to watch without spoilers. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/russian-doll/netflix-russian-doll-natasha-lyonne-amy-poehler-le) - **The Ringer**, Alison Herman (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it an excellent new kind of mystery-box show that is both a star vehicle for Natasha Lyonne and an existential journey. They single out the textured, well-realized characters whose personal stories provide the answers rather than supernatural elements. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2019/02/04/tv/russian-doll-netflix-natasha-lyonne-amy-poehler) - **Consequence** (80/100, inferred): The review finds emotional resonance in the Groundhog Day premise, noting it mixes humor, philosophy, and twists effectively for patient viewers, becoming a cult favorite with strong character work from Lyonne. [Read](https://consequence.net/2019/02/tv-review-russian-doll-netflix/) - **Den of Geek**, Alec Bojalad (4/5): The critic highlights the show as a long-awaited showcase for Natasha Lyonne, with strong emotional heft and a profound take on trauma alongside its sci-fi elements. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/russian-doll-review-spoiler-free/) - **NME**, Samantha Maine (4/5): The critic praises the series as a clever take on the time-loop premise that explores grief and existential questions with wit and heart. Lyonne's performance as the ruthless yet charismatic Nadia is highlighted as her best work. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/russian-doll-netflix-review-2441934) ## Details - **Created by:** Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland - **Creator:** Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland - **Director:** Alexander Buono, Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Jamie Babbit - **Writer:** Natasha Lyonne, Allison Silverman, Leslye Headland, Alice Ju, Cirocco Dunlap, Amy Poehler, Zakiyyah Alexander, Lizzie Rose, Flora Birnbaum, Jocelyn Bioh - **Story:** Natasha Lyonne, Allison Silverman, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler - **Teleplay:** Leslye Headland - **Cinematography:** Chris Teague - **Music:** Joe Wong - **Production design:** Michael Bricker, Diane Lederman - **Costume design:** Jen Rogien - **Producer:** Kate Arend, John Skidmore, Ryan McCormick - **Cast:** Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov; Charlie Barnett as Alan Zaveri; Greta Lee as Maxine; Yul Vazquez as John Reyes; Chloë Sevigny as Lenora Vulvokov; Elizabeth Ashley as Ruth Brenner; David Cale as Dr. Daniel; Fady Kerko as Kamile - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 1 February 2019 - **Genres:** Comedy, Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPELCYFK-Wg ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Groundhog Day* (1993), Fi1m 88: The original loop, still the funniest, and kinder about its man than it first appears. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day.md) - *Fleabag* (2016), Fi1m 90: Another woman using jokes as a wall, with grief waiting patiently on the other side. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/fleabag.md) - *Palm Springs* (2020): Two strangers stuck in a wedding day; lighter than this, and sneakily sad. - *Triangle* (2009): A British loop with no jokes at all, set on a ship, and properly frightening. - *The Leftovers* (2014): Loss treated as a mystery nobody solves, with a lead who refuses to be comforted. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/russian-doll