'A strange kind of love' charts Georgian Dreams journey from the 2016 parliamentary 'landslide' that masked deep voter dissatisfaction; to apparent progress on European integration that feels now like a calculated attempt at treading water; through growing police brutality, vote buying, and finally the mask is off.

In 2016, the Georgian Dream increased its parliamentary majority, but opinion polls recorded all-time high dissatisfaction with the direction in which the country was heading. As public protests grew, the explicit vote-buying which decided the 2018 presidential election further undermined trust in GD. The appearance of Sergei Gavrilov, a member of the Russian Duma, sparked major protests which were violently suppressed, leaving hundreds injured. While COVID halted the protests temporarily, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine led the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili to show his true colours.

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