Eastern Promises (2007)

Director David Cronenberg knocks it out of the park with this one. What The Godfather did for the Sicilian mafia, Eastern Promises does for the Russian mob, and succeeds almost as well in about half the run time. Stephen Knight's screenplay is a wonderfully complex puzzle box of mixed and ever-changing alliances and games of superiority through intimidation. The result is a fanatically character-driven and methodical plot that isn't afraid to be frightening or difficult. Meanwhile the acting brings the story to life with painstaking fluidity and detail. Every performance in the film is perfection. Toss in the natural kinks that director David Cronenberg naturally brings to any project, and you've got a meal fit for a king. Really, it's extraordinary filmmaking, unapologetically brutal and complicated, intimidating and powerful. It is a mafia masterpiece.

10 out of 10.