A really good thriller

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2016)

Man, I managed to avoid watching this movie for a year. I read some bad reviews and I kept thinking, I don't want to watch it, it's gonna be bad. Finally, because I had nothing else to watch, I decided to kill some time with this movie and I'm so glad I did. I haven't read the original book, and I try not to compare books and films because I will always get upset about what they did with the source material. Maybe if I'd read it, I'd be furious like some other reviewers out there.
I really don't understand why people would call this movie boring and give it so little credit. Perhaps it's because they didn't understand that it was a movie about more than just the murders. I actually liked this concept a lot - the idea that there are several stories to it rather than just one story-line going smoothly from A to Z. Honestly, scene after scene I was wondering where the story would lead the characters, how it would end.
The movie kept me hooked till the end. It was very intense, and quite scary too because the regime of the USSR was brilliantly portrayed and you can just sense that there must be something bad waiting to happen round every corner. If you imagine what life would've been like back in the day, you can feel what the director and screenwriter wanted to achieve.
There were issues that should've been developed more. Some characters should've been given more attention and some things weren't explained so you have to figure stuff on your own - and maybe sometimes it's OK, but in this movie I think we should've been given a little more. For example, I didn't quite get why the whole operation was such a secret, why some people would kill some people and try to cover up the investigation. As much as I get that 'there's no murder in paradise' so you can't let anyone run around digging for some killer, I think that someone should've been interested in this guy. After all, 44 kids is kind of a big deal and why would you want to sweep that under the carpet?
All in all, though, the story is coherent, the acting is great, the mood is dark and heavy just as it should be, and all the extra stuff that some people found unnecessary, in my opinion really adds to the movie and makes it multidimensional rather than a one-dimensional thriller-by-numbers. Such stories are about the people, not about the plot. Once you accept that this is this kind of movie, maybe it will be easier to watch it with an open mind.
I loved it.