Michail Bulgakov uses theatrical language to give us a deeply political work, with a deeply humanitarian message. Although many would characterize it as a work of Fantastic literature, nevertheless, the work is part of the core of Russian Anti-Utopian literature, which remained unknown for many decades both to the Russian reader and to that of the West.

The abolition of historical time within the plot of the work, the allegories and parallels with previous eras, outline the gloomy future that awaits not only the heroes of the work, but also the viewers many decades after its writing.

Although the central character is Ivan Vasilievich, who became known in history as the Terrible, the parallel with the all-powerful leader of the author's time, J.V. Stalin, is inevitable, while the prevailing atmosphere constantly reminds of the danger that the ordinary person faces from the insatiable appetite of totalitarianism. And all this with the unparalleled humor of a person of high aesthetics and a sense of responsibility towards contemporaries and future generations.