AllMovie

Although it appears on the surface to be a relentlessly grim story of sexual and spiritual degradation, the third feature from Swedish wunderkind Lukas Moodysson retains the gentle humor and unaffected humanity of his previous features, Show Me Love and Together. The Dickensian tale of an Eastern European teen left to rot in the decaying tenements of the former Soviet Union, Lilya 4-Ever mixes grimy hyperrealism with flamboyant flights of fancy and leavens its politically charged subtext with quietly compelling storytelling. The dramatic success of the film rests with star Oksana Akinshina, veteran of precisely one previous feature. Luckily for Moodysson and his audience, the young actress proves more than capable of embodying both universal teen ennui and a horrifyingly specific form of bruised innocence. Under the intimate watch of cinematographer Ulf Brantas' handheld camera, Akinshina brings Lilya to life through the insouciant cast of her mouth, the defiant flash of her smile, and the quiet gravity of her suffering. The camera loves her, and the audience can't help but do the same, which makes her slow slide from idleness to exploitation all the more painful. Indeed, even as her eventual fate becomes painfully obvious, Lilya inspires dramatic tension. The film's final act is the emotional equivalent of a slasher film in which the audience screams encouragement to the heroine no matter how blindly she wanders into danger. Co-star Artiom Bogucharski, too, deserves mention for the mournful intensity and unexpected joy his character brings to Moodysson's tale. Even after Lilya has moved far outside of Volodya's orbit, the director gives these spiritual orphans a powerful sibling bond. An interesting companion piece to Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, in that it's equally calculating, nearly as stylized, but far more emotionally true, Lilya 4-Ever confirms Moodysson's position as one of his generation's most keen observers of both the personal and the political.