Somewhere in post Soviet Russia, Lilya's mother leaves for America with her new husband - promising to send for 16 year old Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) once they are settled. As the days pass it becomes evident that Lilya has been abandoned. Her only confidant is Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky) , a boy several years younger than Lilya and also an out cast. Lilya struggles to survive until one day she meets and falls for Andrei, who promises to help her start a new life in Sweden.
Written and directed by Lukas Moodysson, this is a relentlessly harrowing film. Moodysson's directing is superb, and it's even more impressive knowing that although the film is in Russian, he doesn't speak the language. He gets a brilliant performance out of all the actors particula
rly those who play Lilya and Volodya. Rarely does a film move me this deeply - I haven't stopped thinking about it since I watched it several days ago. It deserves every award that it won, and more.
