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Set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union in the Fifties . Although it starts in 1945 with the conquest of the Berlin Parliament in which some soldiers raising the Russian flag . Some years later, horrible discovery of a maimed young boy near the railway tracks in Moscow is investigated by a suffered member (Tom Hardy) of the Russian military . After that, other killings occur here and there. The gruesome murders point to an invisible prowler who preys on the innocent children . However , the state would not hear of the existence of a child murderer let alone a serial killer . His thorny investigations and his suspicious wife (Naomi Rapace) accused to be a spy lead to his detention , as he disgraced police gets demoted and exiled on a remote location in Siberia. Nevertheless, he decides, with just the help of his spouse and to go on pursuing the case . He finds similarly strange deaths happen there , notably targeting the 'unthinkable' gay minority , and begins hunting for a serial murderer . How do you find a killer who doesn't exist? . Catch the killer. Expose the truth. How many more must die before the truth is exposed? . In a system where distrust is ever-present, what separates an accident from a killing ?.

Thrilling and chilling flick set in the Stalinist era , being based on the first of a trilogy by novelist Tom Rob Smith . In Child 44 there's a sharping depiction of the Stalinist society where people lived terrorized and chased , holding rigid and strict existence in which whatever unusual opinion and abnormal activity being relentlessly pursued and punished . The interesting plot deals with a police investigator decides to find out a series of child murders in a country where supposedly this sort of crime doesn't exist. Main and secondary cast are pretty good . Tom Hardy delivers a serious and nice acting as an idealistic pro-Stalin security officer whose life goes wrong , being demoted to the deputy chief of the local police, while his suffering wife is well played by Naomi Rapace . Support cast is frankly excellent , all of them giving splendind performances , such as : Paddy Considine , Jason Clarke , Vincent Cassell , Charles Dance , Tara Fitzgerald and special mention for Gary Oldman as General Mikhail Nesterov , while Joel Kinnaman and Fares Fares , Daniel Espinosa's regular actors, provide stunning interpretations , as well.

It contains a sensitive and memorable musical score by Jon Ekstrand . As well as evocative and adequate cinematography by the great cameraman Oliver Wood . Director Daniel Espinosa replaces a bit of bada-bing with class warfare in this thriller titled Child 44 (2015) . Daniel got big hit thanks to the international film ¨Snabba cash¨. As Espinosa earned critical acclaim and subsequently hired by Hollywood , where has directed other successful films as ¨Life¨ and the hit boxoffice ¨Safe house¨ with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . The motion picture will appeal to historical thriller enthusiasts. Well worth watching.

Sort of confused about the massive chasm between ratings Seems you either love this movie or hate it. I thought it was good. Started off strong and had a reasonably strong story-line but got a bit lost midway through. Sort of seemed they needed to finish up the movie and just rushed it at the end like they lost track of time. Had potential to be much better but still considered it suitably entertaining.

The Ukranian orphan Leo is raised by a Russian family and becomes national hero during the World War II. In the 50's, Captain Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy), his best friend Alexei Andreyev (Fares Fares) and the coward Vasili Nikitin (Joel Kinnaman) join the Ministry of State Security (MGB) during the political regime of Stalin and Leo marries Raisa Demidov (Noomi Rapace). When Alexei's son is found murdered completely naked near the railway, the official explanation is that the boy was hit by a train since there is no murder in paradise since it is a capitalist disease. But Leo finds other similar cases and proceeds investigating, falling in disgrace with the Party. He loses his rank and is transferred with Raisa to Volsk to work with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman). When a body of another boy is found near the railway in the same conditions of Alexei's son, Leo convinces Nesterov that there is a serial-killer and he agrees that Leo conducts a further investigation. Meanwhile the ambitious Vasili tries to persuade Raisa to leave Leo and move to Moscow to stay with him. What will happen to Leo and Raisa?

"Child 44" is a film with a promising storyline, great performances but not engaging. The political subplot is weird and raises the doubt whether it is true the premise that "there is no murder in paradise" or it is an anti-soviet propaganda as mentioned in the previous review. In a controlled political society by a dictatorship, it is expected low crime rates as consequence. But why not secretly investigate a serial-killer? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Crimes Ocultos" ("Hidden Crimes")

'CHILD 44': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A mystery thriller film; starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman. Hardy plays a security officer, that's investigating a child murderer, in 1950s (Stalin era) Soviet Union. The film was directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Richard Price; it's based on the novel, of the same name, by Tom Rob Smith (the first of a trilogy of books). It also costars Joel Kinnaman, Vincent Cassel and Jason Clarke. The movie was a bomb at the box office, and got mostly negative reviews from critics, but I enjoyed it.

Leo Demidov (Hardy) is a former war hero, that now works as an MGB agent, in the 1950s Soviet Union. He's a strong supporter of Stalin, and his country's ideals, but when a series of children start turning up dead, his loyalty is put to the test; being that murder is not supposed to exist there (it's believed to be only a capitalism crime). When his partner's son is killed, he refuses to go along with the government's cover-up (of the crime), and he's exiled; along with his wife (Rapace). Despite their treatment, Leo continues to pursue the killer, and justice.

The movie is well directed, written and full of great performances; especially Tom Hardy (my favorite male actor). Some people have a problem with the fact that the actors all speak English, in the film, but with Russian accents; that didn't bother me. I actually like the characters (especially Hardy's) and the insightful political commentary of those times; I found the movie to be quite involving as well. Maybe one of the main problems, with the film, is that the first cut was 5.5 hours long; and now it's less than 2.5 hours. It's a lot of story, and character development, crammed into one movie. The film is actually pretty fast paced too, it just doesn't quite come together right. I still enjoyed it though.

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The only reason I am writing are view is because some simpletons have actually given this 1 star, what kind of idiot thinks this is 1 star viewing? Do not believe these trolls, whilst I prefer films to be in the local language this does not detract from such a good movie. My only criticism is that the killers reasons are not explored enough and too much emphasis is on the central characters rather than the story line. Having said that, such strong performances easily rate this a 7. Gary Oldman is excellent as usual and Tom Hardy is the thinking persons go to actor, but Naomi in my humble opinion was the standout character and elevated the survival instinct interest inside the USSR to a believable level. Like Downfall,if a Russian version was available this would have made such stronger viewing but I am more than happy with what I saw.

Not sure how accurate some of the things are (this is based on a novel which is based on real events) we get to see in this movie. But you could believe that some of the things would have been possible to happen. It's no wonder that Russia was not really happy about the book of course (not the best depiction of authority or anything else going on there). Haven't looked up how the movie was received, but I can't imagine they welcomed it with open arms.

Tom Hardy is as straight an arrow as you can get in this one, but he gets major support by Noomi and Gary to name but two. The incidents occurring that the movie is about apart from the human side of it, are despicable, not that anyone was actually confirming them. It's a tough watch especially because of its pacing, but it's solid and suspenseful from beginning to end

Child 44 is so much more than just crime. Yes the movie rotates about the killing of children however the actual drama, tension and horrific atmosphere lays in the system and society/politics during that time (true or fictional is not up to me to decide on). The movie managed to paint an intense picture of a very special era. Disturbing, and in its authenticity and accuracy plain awful to watch. Fear and paranoia washes out even the smallest bit of kindness. despotism everywhere, no matter what u do or don't do, everything can be interpreted as wrong and used against u. condemn was only one vehicle for pure cruelty and destroying life after life after life. The male lead said at one point: We're already dead. Which was only one of many memorable situations which left me speechless and touched me deeply. An excellent cast in an excellent movie.

OK, so before I watched this movie, I was reading reviews online and saw so many horrible reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave it like 27%, so I thought this movie was going to be a disaster.

Luckily, it wasn't so.

Now, I'm not going to get into the propaganda and all that or how they got their facts and history wrong and stuff. American (and other nations) movies bend stories to their bias all the time, so we've come to take what we see with a grain of salt.

All I'll say is this:

If like me, you're a Tom Hardy fan and you're watching Children 44 because you can't get enough of Tom Hardy's acting, then you're actually in for a treat as you watch the guy attempt to handle his role as a Russian anti-hero quite successfully.

In fact, generally the acting from the cast was great. Gary Oldman didn't have much screen time but he was excellent as always.

The plot and many parts however, had their flaws, convenient plot devices and "Why the hell would he do that??!!!" moments. These, in my opinion, are the downside to this movie.

On a whole, this movie is definitely worth a watch for the appreciation of how some of our favorite actors and actresses handled their respective roles in Child 44.

And if you don't want to get your panties in a bunch over how this or that wasn't portrayed accurately, watch with an open mind, and you may actually enjoy this movie like I did.

This is a movie I've kept my eye on ever since it was revealed. Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman are two of my favorite working actors, and having them co-lead a Russian serial killer film seemed like a slam dunk. Unfortunately, Child 44 is not the slam dunk it could have been. It has the talent, it has the story (based on the best-selling novel); all the ingredients necessary for greatness are there. But it also has a plethora of baggage that bogs it down to mediocrity.

Tom Hardy is the star of the film through and through. It's a story about his family life and professional life clashing over the case of a dead child. The officials want to pass it off as a train accident, but witnesses swear that it was a homicide. As more and more bodies start turning up and the higher-ups continue to look away, it's up to Hardy to find the killer and bring him to justice. Again, the acting in this film is great, as is the story. The problem is the way it's presented. Half of the movie is focused on the serial killer angle and Hardy's character going through the loops of finding the right person to help him on the case, and the other half is about Soviet officials exiling his family and stripping him of power for his disobedience. The way these stories intertwine is messy and confusing, for a number of reasons.

For starters, the tone is all over the place. What should be a dark, gloomy mystery among the cold streets of Soviet Russia ends up as a haphazardly arranged domestic dispute due to political interference with a child murderer lurking around somewhere. There's no time for momentum to build when it's constantly changing course. Gary Oldman being billed a co-lead is a huge stretch. He's in the movie for about 20 minutes total and his character doesn't do much to further the story. Mind you, it's Gary Oldman so he gives a fine performance, but as someone who was looking forward to Hardy and Oldman sharing the scene for two plus hours, I was disappointed to say the least.

And then there's the practical aspect. Hardy and Oldman are accent chameleons, there's no doubt about that. I didn't even know Oldman was British until I saw him in an interview. But why on earth are these Russian soldiers speaking to each other in English? For a wider audience no doubt, but it's such a basic matter of common sense that it bugged me continuously throughout the film. It's also far too long. A serial killer hunt stretched over the course of two hours and 15 minutes is exhausting. The tension becomes less and less dire as the movie progresses until you're just waiting for it to end.

Child 44 isn't a bad movie, but its flaws are glaring. It's not the dark, edgy thriller you'd expect. In fact, to call it a thriller would be a misnomer. Child 44 is a tone-deaf political drama filled to the brim with wasted potential.

I watched this film with a definite unease, having read the description of the film I didn't find it hugely appealing, just because of the subject matter, which is particularly dark, but because Mr Hardy is in it, I had to watch it. They managed to take us back to Stalin's Russia, we see a brief glimpse of how tough life was for people back then, those poor people were living in horrendous conditions. The story in brief, The State have turned Russia into a Paradise, crime simply isn't possible, and the thought of a child killer unthinkable, but when young boys are being found murdered along the train tracks the unthinkable is happening. Security Officer Leo Demidov is disgraced, but believes a Serial killer is to blame, and despite the vast obstacles the state puts in place, he sets out to find the killer. Tom Hardy (of course) and Gary Oldman are particularly brilliant, and there are also wonderful performances from Paddy Considine and Petr Vanek and many others. As I've mentioned it is quite harrowing matter, but it's not overly done, mercifully the scenes aren't that gory, it could have been dreadfully overdone. I eagerly anticipate the next instalment. 9/10

The fair portrait of last years of Stalin reign can be the basic virtue of this very special film.

It is special for acting and for inspired storytelling.

In same measure, for atmosphere and for the levels of story.

For great work of Tom Hardy and for the inspired end.

For moral kicks to real punches, for unrealism of a fist of scenes, well used in context of story, for the image of fragility of emotions, for the sketches of fear and cruelty, for the back ground and for the roots of evil. Short, just special.

That's what I decided and I'm so glad I did. There is just so much more to the story that you wouldn't want to miss. In fact, I think I would have been lost had I not read the book first.

A crime thriller, set in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era: it sounds like a good idea. And it probably is, but unfortunately 'Child 44' doesn't have what it takes to be a really good film. Some things are well done: the oppressing atmosphere of living in a police state, and the courage it takes to go against of the powers that be, are very convincing. That's partly because of the excellent cinematography, full of grey colours conveying the joyless society that Soviet Russia must have been; and partly because of Tom Hardy's convincing lead.

Hardy shows exactly the right amount of tenacity to make him believable as the Russian war hero who becomes an outcast because he refuses to denounce his innocent wife, against the will of the regime. Only after he exposes the incompetence of the police force in a series of child killings, he gets rehabilitated.

The weak point of the film is the script. It takes a long while before all elements of the story are clear, and the quick succession of events at the start is a bit confusing. Moreover, the story is spiced up with some action scenes that are not well executed and unnecessary. Also, the tear jerking scene at the end is at odds with the hard-boiled story.

What really annoyed me (and I think I'm not alone) is the language. The actors speak English with a mock Russian accent. This half-hearted way of solving a language problem makes some dialogue almost ridiculous. Just let them speak normal English. I know, that makes the film a bit less authentic. But nobody spoke English with mock Russian accents in Soviet Russia.

Sometimes it's tough to stand on the side of right. That's especially true when all those around you are more interested in perception than reality. And I don't just mean your family and your friends or your social circle. I'm talking about fighting against the abuses of power, corruption and cover-ups of an entire society. That's what Moscow-based secret police (MGB) agent Leo Demidov faces in the Soviet Union of the 1950s in British writer Tom Rob Smith's trilogy. The first book in that trilogy lends its title to the film "Child 44" (R, 1:37) and focuses on the real-life crimes of a Russian named Andrei Chikatilo.

Demidov is played by underrated British actor Tom Hardy. Hardy's character is a tough, but good man who wants to do what's right, but runs into a brick wall every time he tries. He's a cop in Stalin's U.S.S.R., a government that whisks away any citizen who expresses a point of view contrary to that of the authorities and holds fast to its denial of the existence of crime in their communist utopia. When the young son of fellow agent Alexi (Fares Fares) is murdered, Demidov is reminded that, according to Stalin, "murder is a capitalist disease." Or, as Vasili (Joel Kinnaman), Demidov's bitter rival within their secret police unit says, "There is no crime in paradise." As Alexi's friend and superior, Demidov is assigned to present the police report to the family. "Railway accident" is listed as the cause of death. Everyone, including Demidov, knows that this is a lie, but when the family argues with him about the official version of events all he can do is half-heartedly insist that they read the report. He pulls aside Alexi to tell him repeatedly that his son was not murdered. You can see how difficult it is for this talented investigator to deny his friend any hope of justice, but it's for Alexi's own good. Demidov knows that pursuing the matter any further would mean the end of both of their careers, or worse.

Demidov soon gets to experience an example of that "worse" for himself. When he finally takes an unyielding stand and refuses to toe the party line on another issue, he is demoted, and he and his wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace), are basically exiled to a small town that is even bleaker than Moscow was for them. When Demidov is helping investigate the murder of another young boy, he encourages his new supervisor, General Nesterov (Gary Oldman), to investigate further. Nesterov soon discovers that there have been a total of 43 similar murders in the region. "44," Demidov corrects him. "My friend's son was murdered too." Nesterov does what he can within the confines of the Soviet legal system, while Demidov and his wife go well outside normal procedures in an effort to catch the killer. Vasili gets wind of what the Demidovs are up to and tries to use this to get his former boss out of the way for good.

"Child 44" is grim, but effective. The story is a disturbing but fascinating peek into life in the U.S.S.R. late in the Stalinist era. We get a look at the state of schools, orphanages, mental hospitals and even the treatment of homosexuals, but this film is mainly about the paranoia of a broken system which victimized its own people and allowed many criminals to go unpunished. The script is strong, but the acting is even stronger. Hardy plays Demidov as a confident and dedicated public servant who is barely holding the cork in the bottle of his righteous anger. Rapace comes off as proud and strong, but with a barely concealed vulnerability just beneath the surface. Oldman has been (and remains) one of the most talented actors of his generation and, anyone who remembers him as the terrorist leader in "Air Force One" (1997) can attest that the man knows his way around a Russian accent. Basically, this is the kind of movie you want to see if you're in the mood for a serious crime thriller which has the courage to approach the sub-genre of police procedural from a little-understood place in a nearly forgotten time. "B+"

Child 44 isn't the movie you watch for light entertainment. It is gritty and tough, and I found myself feeling a sense of absolute disgust for anyone and anything connected with the old school communist state in the USSR. It really makes you look at just how bad that system was and how monstrous the people were who enforced it on the general populace. Nonetheless, the story is compelling, although sometimes the thread jumps around a bit. Tom Hardy's performance was his best ever. I think he warrants an Academy for it. Noomi Rapace was excellent - very authentic in her role. Child 44 is a dark thriller - and without giving anything away, the build up and hatred toward the serial killer really sticks you to this movie - you simply want the killer to get the most gruesome death conceivable for what he does. Apart from the Hollywood aspect, this film depicts reality. This is how life existed under Communism and I think that message is just as compelling and important as the rest of the story - because it really depicted the terror and the suppression that millions of people lived under in the name of some douche bag's idea of "ideology". May Stalin forever lay dead and remembered for only one thing - he was a murdering asshole. Watch the film folks - I notice that the ratings were low, and I think that is an unfair assessment about the quality of this production.

Based on Tom Rob Smith's 2008 novel of the same name, 'Child 44' is a yet another showcase of Tom Hardy's excellence. The supremely talented actor is in complete show-stealing mode here, delivering a knockout performance from start to end.

'Child 44' Synopsis: A disgraced member of the military police investigates a series of nasty child murders during the Stalin-era Soviet Union.

'Child 44' is strictly an okay film, though. While its beautifully Directed by Daniel Espinosa & Photographed by Philippe Rousselot, this mystery-thriller still fails to mesmerize you. Reason? Richard Price's Adapted Screenplay, which ranges from riveting to plain dull. I did get goosebumps in some sequences, especially in the film's intriguing first-hour, but was mostly bored in its dull second-hour. Also, the final-act doesn't work. 'Child 44' had all the makings of becoming an instant classic, but what is eventually served, despite a few genuinely terrific moments, is an average fare, at best.

Performance-Wise: As mentioned right from my summary, Tom Hardy has topped himself, yet again! With his flawless Russian accent to perfect body language, Hardy proves that he's the best in the business today, among his contemporaries. Noomi Rapace is competent, as always. Gary Oldman is adequate. Joel Kinnaman isn't menacing enough, while Vincent Cassel seems to have done his bit in a massive hurry. Jason Clarke is wasted.

On the whole, 'Child 44' isn't half as good as it deserved to be, but for Hardy alone, I'd recommend you to watch this film.

Wow im very impressed with this movie , many of the lines and camera shots are absolutley stunning , the plot leads you in some traps were you ask youself , is it smart to trust that person? Who can i trust? Because "People do everything to survive" excelent job from the actors as well "look around us we are already dead" many lines hit you right in the face , i had this movie on my watch list for a while now , glad i watched , so i can add this movie to my physical collection. Its never a 6 , people who give it a 6 dont look at the bigger picture.

Child 44 is the story of an ex member of the Russian military police who investigates a series of child murders during the Stalin-era Soviet Union. I am struggling to think of a bad film that Tom Hardy has made . He is currently flavour of the month and quite rightly so but Child 44 is probably the worst thing he has done but it's not his fault. This film is all over the place. It can't decide whether it is a serial-killer thriller or an old-school anti-Soviet propaganda movie and just ends up failing miserably on both fronts. The editing is disastrous. It feels like a bunch of scenes all put together and not always in the correct order . I honestly thought there had been scenes accidentally deleted at one stage it was so bad and at 137 minutes you can't wait for the end credits to roll.

4 out of 10