The direction is methodical and does a strong job with pacing what is otherwise a very large plot, a plot that encompasses a litany of subplots and inter-character dynamics. This historical backdrop amplified the other plots at hand, and makes for enthralling viewing. Child 44, however, captured all of this, and did so with skillful nuance and through the eyes of one of the regime's brighter men-who must contend with his own better judgement every day. For what are likely a number of reasons, Hollywood has shied away from depicting its injustices. Stalin was a monster, and his regime monstrous. It was a brutal time, a time of poverty, paranoia, secrecy, and self-delusion. Of all the things Child 44 does right, I found the greatest to be the accurate and devastating picture it painted of Stalin-era Soviet Russia. Set in post-world War II Soviet Russia and based on the novel of the same name, Child 44 follows the exploits of a mid-level Soviet secret police agent, Leo Demidov, who finds himself mired in two controversies-one involving the suspected treason by his wife, and the other regarding a string of child murders the State refuses to acknowledge for, as Stalin would say, "There are no murders in paradise". Ambitious, but utterly effective and insightful, Child 44 is a slow-burn thriller that serves as an equally effective historical piece.
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