Outsource

In mid 1990s Russia, when executions were still carried out by the state, a young man named Kostya takes a job at a special purpose prison where he and his colleagues are tasked with carrying out death sentences. Kostya arrives with a different moral outlook, and a confrontation with a victim's father shifts his thinking toward personal retribution. As he considers who should be allowed to punish and why, the idea of paid executions emerges, pushed further when a grieving mother offers money for the murder of her daughter's rapist. The series watches Kostya as he negotiates law, loyalty, and the temptation of profit without offering easy answers.

Outsource premiered in 2025 and was created by Dushan Gligorov, Anna Kozlova, and Olga Nikulina. The drama is led by Ivan Yankovsky as Kostya, with Eldar Kalimulin, Daniil Steklov, Dmitriy Sumin, and Leonid Telezhinskiy in key roles, and it deliberately evokes the look and tone of the turbulent 1990s.

As of its release the show has not won major industry awards. Audience data is limited but positive, with a vote average of 7.9/10 from 15 votes, indicating a smaller but engaged viewership. Given its subject matter and modest initial exposure, broader recognition may depend on festival screenings or wider distribution.

Though relatively new and niche, Outsource has prompted discussion among viewers about the ethics of capital punishment, private vengeance, and how money can corrupt justice. Online forums and comment threads often focus on the morality of the characters' choices and the series' portrayal of a chaotic decade, even if it hasn't yet reached mainstream cultural status.

Early responses highlight a strong central performance from Ivan Yankovsky and praise the show's willingness to sit in moral gray areas. Main themes include revenge, institutional decay, commodification of violence, and the personal costs of retribution. The drama favors tense, morally ambiguous scenes and moral questioning over neat resolutions, asking viewers to weigh responsibility, grief, and the limits of justice.