Director-cowriter Pawlikowski obviously knows what he's talking about: Everything here has the ring of authenticity, from the way the film looks to the actions and reactions of the various characters. Korzun and Strelnikov are so bracingly natural that it's disarming--we instantly take an interest in them, feeling both their frustration and desperate hope. Considine (A Room for Romeo Brass) delivers another fascinating performance that wins us over completely, even though we don't quite trust him either. And the film looks fantastic ... in a very unusual way. Pawlikowski has a gifted eye for capturing a sense of place; the film's setting is relentlessly drab and grim--sprawling yet claustrophobic, modern yet falling down. What should be a quaint, lively English seaside is far more desolate than anything Tanya and her son might have left behind in Russia.