Considered, sobering, if a little plodding

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2016)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
In the early 1950's, the Ukrainian people are living under a regime of forced starvation under Josef Stalin. Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy) is a dedicated officer in the army, who's suspected of being a traitor for not turning in his fiancÃ© Raisa (Noomi Rapace.) However, he's soon ruffling feathers again when he starts drawing attention to a series of child murders that appear to have been taking place along the train tracks. He finds himself transferred from Moscow to a different area, where he is met with resistance from General Nesterov (Gary Oldman), before a climactic final showdown with the killer.
Serving as a kind of alternative period piece, Child 44 transports us back to a most grim of periods, which is captured in pretty much every aspect of its production, whilst relaying a fairly typical detective story. A film set in the grimmest of times telling an even grimmer tale. Generally speaking, it's not a film to have a laugh with. It's captured most effectively in the drained, gloomy lighting and dark cinematography. The script is equally humourless, which perfectly matches the already established mood.
Since the tone has been captured so perfectly, all that remains to be spoken of is the writing and performances. Spreading out over a long time frame, it's an intelligently written piece if sadly a little dull, without the nail biting suspense consistently injected into the script to make it really effective. Performances wise, Hardy does a decent Russian accent and appears as committed to his role as any other, a feat matched by younger (and now sadly less relevant) version Oldman. A lively supporting cast, including Joel Kinnaman and Vincent Cassel, keep the project charging down the tracks.
It's a decent mystery thriller, then, if a little long and dull, and very little to laugh at. ***