Polish filmmakers Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert present a satirical reimagining of literary icon Fyodor Dostoevsky in "The Idiot(s)," stripping away traditional reverence to portray him instead as a chaotic, intoxicated gambler whose life is steadied by his wife Anna. Johnny Flynn inhabits the erratic novelist while Aimee Lou Wood plays Anna Dostoevskaya, his stenographer and emotional anchor, in a two-character film that deliberately subverts biographical convention.

Rather than relegating Anna to the margins of her husband's story, the film elevates her as a central protagonist worthy of the spotlight, reframing the narrative around her agency and indispensable support. Critics found the film's playful and irreverent approach refreshingly inventive, with both performances earning praise for their vitality in this tonally bold examination of marriage, artistic genius, and the often-forgotten women behind literary legacies.