Review of Eastern Promises (2007) by Felix W — 27 Mar 2017

"Estern Promises" is a great drama that inspires and is suspenseful to the very end. Viggo Mortensen delivers one of his best performances, right after "Captain Fantastic", and has a great chemistry with Naomi Watts and delivers a great Russian accent.

The latter delivers a great performance as well and makes the viewer feel for her. The thing that most surprised me was the very authentic Russian accent by Vincent Cassel who as a Frenchman has an accent anyway but his performance is just brilliant.

The story is great and is laid out in brilliant way. The movie jumps right into action in the opening sequence and then makes the viewer curious for more within the first ten minutes. A refreshing change here is that this movie is not predictable but has many twists and revelation that are very unexpected.

Cronenberg portrays his characters here in an unconventional fashion but it is exactly that what makes them and the movie so interesting and intriguing. He builds up the story gradually and as the movie progresses the story unfolds in a very exciting and suspenseful way.

With many medium shots and close ups the cinematography helps the viewer take in all the emotions and feelings that the characters show. In this movie facial expression often say more than words and that is exactly what the camera catches and what makes this movie so intense.

All in all we can say that this is an amazing drama where all the elements fit together and where suspense is present form begging to end.