It's propaganda, and it makes Stalin uniquely evil, centers around making :corn-man-khrush: look good. Recurring joke throughout the film are people being executed, at one point they're in the middle of a purge with firing squads, they get a phone call to halt the purge and stop executing mid-session.

Go into it with a very critical mindset and you'll find it does have some stellar humor and performances topped off by an amazing cast.