With Eastern Promises, Director David Cronenberg takes his show on the road, from the comforts of home here in Canada to the seedy streets of London England. New location to be sure as the noted filmmaker is taken far outside his territorial bubble. But on the plus side, all the Cronenberg touches are still there: the moral ambiguity, the shady dealings, the flawed humanity are all on display just relocated across The Pond.



When an injured pregnant woman shows up at the ER, she’s cared for by Ana (Naomi Watts), a mid-wife. The woman gives birth to the baby, but dies in the delivery. Amongst her personal effects is a journal written in Russian, which implicates the local head of the Russian organized crime family (Armin Mueller-Stahl) in her rape and murder. Out of Ana’s desire to do good, finding a home for the baby girl and giving the dead woman closure, she crosses paths with some of the most dangerous people in London, including a mysterious valet named Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen).



Cronenberg is known for his incredibly stylish approach to storytelling, but Eastern Promises is raw and a little rough around the edges. This is not the typically touristy streets of London, but the down and dirty back alleys of England’s capital, places that dead end at the Thames making them an excellent place to dump a body. The city is always nearly drenched in rain, as if the weather itself were reacting to the characters’ state of mind. These are not happy people, or happy circumstances, and the mood that Cronenberg creates reflects that perfectly.



Mortensen proves once again why he’s one of the best actors working out there. He brings mystery and danger to the character of Nikolai, but at the same time he’s got a little something that only makes you wonder if he’s really as bad as he looks. Mortensen and Cronenberg mercilessly execute a twist which has actually nothing to do with the main story but at the same time it’s all serving for the way it answers key questions about Nikolai’s motivation, without losing any of that ambiguity. Helping the makeover is Mortensen’s convincing accent and even more convincing (and intricate) tattoo make-up.



On the other hand is Naomi Watts’ Ana, who is both a saving grace and a bit of a conundrum. She brings a lot of light into an otherwise dreary story, but she’s also saddled with the most contrived element of the screenplay: Ana lost her baby, so now she feels that she’s the abandoned baby’s surrogate mother and protector. In a film that skewers towards the unexpected and unplotable, this development was a real let down. To her credit though, Watts really throws herself into the part and makes it her own.



Eastern Promises is a guaranteed emotional wallop that is unexpected at nearly every turn and enjoyable in a brooding way even without a truly healthy dose of Cronenberg`s signature violence. It’s violent sure, but the point the direct is trying to make is what’s the more scary: a confrontation with a man with a knife or the threat of confrontation from a man who can summon the ability to frighten you into submission with a glare.