Eastern Promises

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.