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Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
Director: Lukas Moodysson
Writer: Lukas Moodysson
Cast: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy, Pavel Ponomaryov
Genre: Bio Pic Drama

About
: Based on the true life story of Lilya a 16 year old girl from Estonia who is take to Sweden and forced into prostitution.


Review
: This is one powerful movie. I like films that are 'indie films', small budget and up close and personal and Lilya 4-Ever certainly is that and much more.

I was really impressed with the first hour when we see Lilya in the slums of Russia, I kept thinking I was watching a documentary and Lilya and her young friend Volodya were real people....and that's powerful film making! I felt like I was transported to those run-down flats and I was watching real life unfold. It wasn't pretty, but it seemed very real.

The actresses who played Lilya (Oksana Akinsjina) was amazing! I never thought she was acting, it was like she was a real person and that's high praise. Same for the boy Volodya (Artiom Bogutjarskij) he was really good too, and together they had a real chemistry and a bond that came through and made the bleakness, a bit easier to watch.

The second part when she's forced into prostitution in Sweden, I could barely watch that, as it was so sad and so horrible for that to happen to her. I didn't like the Sweden part as much. I wanted to see more about how the illegal trafficking was done and the effects it had on her psychologically. We see a number of close-up scenes of guys with her and after a while that stopped being effective and I thought became counterproductive...I just wanted to see more from Lilya herself.

Lilya 4-Ever made a big impact on me and most movies don't do that.