Excellent film, cerebral and complex, maybe not for everyone . . .

Rating: 9/10 (16 August 2015)

This is an excellent, but complex film. No, it's not an "action thriller", no wild chase scenes or moment to moment cgi enhanced adrenaline shots. If that's what you are looking for, no need to spend time here, you won't get this film at all.
However . . . As an exceptionally well acted, well crafted examination of the human condition, brought to its various extremes under extraordinarily challenging circumstances, this is an example of applied filmcraft well worth its time.
Noomi Rapace and Tom Hardy could not have possibly delivered their characters any better. If anything, they propelled this production beyond what it's initial limitations might have been. That's not to detract from the other actors in this production, all of whom were well cast and credibly delivered their ensemble of characters.
Though the primary plot line of this story centers around a serial child killer and his eventual fate, this evolving thread is woven into the fabric of a multi-layered, complex examination of life in post WWII Stalinist Russia, the Soviet Union in its darkest days.
There is a reason why this film was banned in current day Russia.
Yes, it is true that many contemporary Russians have difficulty understanding or believing the contextual background as depicted in this production, but as one who has personally known various Russians over the years who were there at that time, or who had relatives who lived through this era, the general depictions are chillingly close to the actual experiences familiar to many from that time. Much more time could be spent here trying to explain this in detail for those who are not familiar, but elaborating on such descriptions may be beyond the context of this film review.
As for the production quality of this film, the attention to detail and cinema photography is remarkably well done. To watch this film really does transport the viewer into an experience of that era. I freely admit this film may not be for everyone, but for those who can resonate with this elaborate study of the human condition, as extruded through the mandrel of this cultural and historical motif, it is a remarkable production well worth its time.