Another Russian adaptation of a Strugatsky brothers sci-fi classic has arrived. But where have all the talking dogs gone?

Russian streaming platforms Kion and Okko are airing Klim Kozinsky’s new series Noon, based on Beetle in the Anthill, a novel by Soviet science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The story belongs to their Noon Universe, a vision of a prosperous future in which humanity has achieved communism and made contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. But this utopian world is far from perfect: intelligence agencies still call the shots on Earth, and people have yet to learn to trust one another. Critic Anton Khitrov reviews the novel’s first screen adaptation.