Eastern Promises

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  • Opened September 14, 2007 
  • 1 hr 40 min
  • R | strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity

  • Parents: Common Sense Media says not for kids. More on child suitability

  • The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver for one of London's most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon, the family's fortunes are tested by Semyon's volatile son and enforcer, Kirill, who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai's carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. The girl's personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. By delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinéad Cusack
  • Director: David Cronenberg
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama, Suspense/Thriller

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Critic Reviews

100
Chicago Sun-Times
| Roger Ebert

The actors and the characters merge and form a reality above and apart from the story, and the result is a film that takes us beyond crime and London and the Russian mafia and into the mystifying realms of human nature. Read full review

90
Wall Street Journal
| Joe Morgenstern

Viggo Mortensen's performance is flat-out brilliant, and this relentlessly dramatic thriller represents a mid-life growth spurt for its director, David Cronenberg. Read full review

90
The Hollywood Reporter
|

Cronenberg and screenwriter Steve Knight masterfully orchestrate an atmosphere of danger and dread for a descent into an underworld inhabited by the Russian mafia in London. Read full review

88
Rolling Stone
| Peter Travers

In Eastern Promises, shot to envelop by the great Peter Suschitzky, Cronenberg brings us face to face with the horror of self. Read full review

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Vincent Cassel and Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises."