A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.
THIS SUMMARY CONTAINS SPOILERS. In London, pregnant Russian teenager Tatiana arrives bleeding to a hospital, and the doctors save her baby only. Russian-descendant midwife Anna Khitrova finds Tatiana's diary written in Russian language in her belongings and, deciding to find her family and bring them the baby, she brings the diary home and asks her uncle Stepan to translate the document. Stepan refuses, but Anna finds a card of a restaurant owned by the Russian Semyon inside the diary and visits the old man trying to find a lead to contact Tatiana's family. When she mentions the existence of the diary, Semyon immediately offers to translate the document. However, Stepan translates part of the diary and Anna discovers that Semyon and his sick son Kirill had raped Tatiana when she was 14 and forced her to work as a prostitute in their brothel. Further, Semyon is the dangerous boss of the Russian mafia "Vory v Zakone", jeopardizing the safety of Anna and her family. Meanwhile, Semyon's driver Nikolai Luzhin gets close to Kirill and Semyon, climbing positions in the criminal organization, but he helps Anna, her family, and the baby.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Anna Khitrova, a Brit of Russian descent, works as a midwife at a London hospital. On one of Anna's regular shifts, a pregnant 14-year-old Russian junkie, Tatiana, bursts into the hospital in distress. Tatiana delivers a healthy baby girl, then dies on the table. Anna is determined to find Tatiana's family so that the baby will have a biological family home, as opposed to being caught in the foster-care system. All Anna has to go on is Tatiana's Russian-written diary which was on her person, with a business card for the Trans-Siberian Restaurant inserted among its pages. Anna's old-school Russian Uncle Stepan is reluctant to do the translation, believing that Anna desecrated Tatiana's memory by even taking the diary. So Anna is grateful when the owner/operator of the Trans-Siberian, an elderly Russian named Semyon, volunteers to translate the diary for her. It isn't until after she gives Semyon a photocopy of the diary that Anna learns that he is the head of a Russian mob organization, and that Tatiana was probably caught unwillingly in his prostitution ring and was injected with illicit drugs to control her further. Beyond Semyon, the criminal names and faces that Anna encounters within his organization are his volatile son Kirill and Kirill's driver, Nikolai Luzhin, who also works as the organization's cleaner, making sure there are no loose ends in the organization's crimes. This situation also gives Anna a better picture of the probable biological father. Anna, the baby, and Anna's family, which also includes her mother Helen, are placed at greater risk because of the situation, not only at the hands of Semyon and those around him, but being potentially caught in the crossfire with other criminal organizations associated with Semyon. The wild card in the mix may be Nikolai, as the non-family member with inside knowledge of what's going on regardless.—Huggo
The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin is a driver for one of London's most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon, whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably masks a cold and brutal core, the family's fortunes are tested by Semyon's volatile son and enforcer, Kirill, who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai's carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova, a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try to trace the baby's lineage and relatives. The girl's personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna's mother Helen does not discourage her, but Anna's irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan urges caution. He is right to do so; by delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives - including his own - hang in the balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest corners of both the family and London itself.—Focus Features
A teenage, pregnant Russian girl enters a London pharmacy wearing a trench coat. She is bleeding profusely under the trench coat and falls unconscious. She is taken to the Trafalgar hospital on December 20th.
Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a Russian-British midwife at a London hospital, finds a Russian-language diary on the body of Tatiana (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse), a teenage girl who dies in childbirth. Tatiana's body had bruises all over her. A baby girl was born alive, by emergency Cesarean section.
Anna finds calling card for the Trans-Siberian Restaurant owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), an old boss in the Russian mafia.Anna sets out to track down Tatiana's family so that she can find a home for the baby. Though Anna's mother, Helen (Sinéad Cusack), is open to the idea, Anna's Russian uncle, Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski), a former KGB functionary, urges caution, saying that Tatiana was a prostitute. Stephan could read Russian and had read Tatiana's diary. He tells Anna to bury the diary in the girl's coffin.Stefan has outrageous views and says that Anna's own baby died before childbirth as it was of a mixed race, as her boyfriend Oliver was African. Stefan is against inter race relations.
Anna meets Semyon and asks him about Tatiana. Semyon says that Tatiana didn't work at his restaurant and speculates that she might have eaten there once. Anna reveals that she has Tatiana's diary. Now Semyon offers to help translate Tatiana's diary and wants Anna to bring it to him. He says that if he finds the names of any relatives, he will call them himself. He ignores all suggestions that her uncle could translate the diary.Anna gives Semyon a photocopy of the diary for the translation. She says that she is going to keep the original to give to Tatiana's daughter someday.
Semyon's driver, Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen), serves as the family "cleaner" and bodyguard of Kirill (Vincent Cassel), Semyon's son. Kirill, a drunk who repeatedly disappoints Semyon, authorizes an ill-advised hit on a rival Chechen leader Soyka (Aleksandar Mikic) with the help of a Kurdish associate, Azim (Mina E. Mina), and without Semyon's approval. Azim's mentally challenged nephew Ekrem (Josef Altin) carried out the hit in Azim's barbershop where the Chechen was a customer.Azim brings Kirill and Nikolai to the barbershop later, where he had stored the body of the Chechen in an ice box. Kirill spits on the dead Chechen's body, calling him a Pederast. Nikolai removes identifying evidence from the Chechen's body (removing his wallet, file his teeth and cut off his fingers) and dumps it in the Thames.Nikolai later tells Semyon that the Chechen had been spreading rumors that Kirill is gay. Semyon is livid that Kirill conducted an unauthorized hit but is happy that Nikolai protected him and disposed of the body safely.
Nikolai likes Anna's bike, a Ural, which are not made anymore. He offers to buy it from her, but she refuses to sell.
When Stepan finishes translating the diary, Anna learns that Tatiana was a simple Russian girl with dreams of coming to the Western World. She had heard that girls made more money in a week by singing in bars than her father made in a whole year. She came to Semyon's restaurant for a singing job, without knowing that she is falling into the hands of the Russian Mafia, who pushed her into prostitution. Tatiana resisted and she did not allow herself to be used, which infuriated Semyon.Semyon sexually assaulted Tatiana after Kirill failed to do so, explaining that he would show Kirill how to "break" her. The diary also states that Semyon gave her pills to induce an abortion, and Anna realizes that the baby was fathered by Semyon.
Meanwhile, Semyon realizes that Anna knows the truth and visits her in hospital. They reach an agreement that he will give the location of the girl's family to Anna if she returns the diary to him. Later, Anna, Helen, and Stepan meet Nikolai in a fast-food restaurant, where he takes the diary but denies knowing anything about the deal. Later, Nikolai reads Tatiana's diary himself. Semyon burns the diary when he gets it from Nikolai.Semyon then orders Nikolai to kill Stepan, who soon goes missing.
As Nikolai rises in rank, Semyon sponsors him as a full member, due in part to his protection of Kirill. Meanwhile, the dead Chechen's brothers arrive in London seeking vengeance and kill Azim's mentally handicapped nephew, whom Azim had forced to kill the Chechen.Azim confesses his role in the hit to Semyon; he forgives him in exchange for participating in a plan to fool the Chechens. Under this, Azim will lure Nikolai into a meeting at a public bath, where he will be ambushed by the Chechens, who are to be deceived into believing that he is Kirill. Though the Chechens seriously wound him, Nikolai manages to kill them both before being taken to Anna's hospital.
Yuri (Donald Sumpter), a high-ranking Scotland Yard officer investigating the Russian mafia, meets Nikolai in the hospital, revealing that Nikolai is actually an undercover FSB agent working under license from the British government. Nikolai tells Yuri to have Semyon arrested on a charge of sexual assault, with a paternity test of Tatiana's baby as evidence, which will also allow Nikolai to take over the mafia. When Anna confronts Nikolai in his hospital bed, he tells her that Stepan is being kept in Edinburgh for his own protection.
Anna spots Kirill entering a lift and finds that Tatiana's baby is gone, replaced with a bouquet of roses. She and Nikolai then rush to the spot on the Thames where Nikolai had previously disposed of the Chechen's body and find Kirill sitting by the river, working up the courage to throw in his baby sister.Nikolai and Anna persuade him to give the baby back and Nikolai embraces Kirill, telling him that Semyon is finished, and that they will now be bosses together. Soon after, Nikolai succeeds Semyon as head of the organization, and Anna gains custody of Tatiana's baby, whom she names Christine.
