Eastern Promises

The diary of a 14-year-old girl who died during childbirth leads Anna, the midwife, to a fancy London restaurant, which serves as a cover for the Russian mafia. She meets some key figures: Semion, the patriarch, Kiril, his drunkard and irresponsible son, and Nikolai, the driver. The narrative twists that arise from the mysterious diary lead the above characters into a series of moral and physical confrontations. In continuation of the masterful tone that characterized his previous film, History of Violence, David Cronenberg returns to explore the power games between violence, innocence, and ethics.