Synopsis for
Eastern Promises (2007) More at IMDbPro »

Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a London hospital, finds a Russian-language diary on the body of a Tatiana, a fourteen-year-old girl who dies in childbirth. She also finds a card for the Trans-Siberian restaurant, which is owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a boss in the Russian Mafia or vory v zakone ("thieves in law"). Anna thus sets out to track down the girl's family so that she can find a home for the dead mother's baby girl. Annas mother Helen (Sinéad Cusack) does not discourage her, but Annas Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski), whom Anna asks for help with translation of the diary, urges caution. Through Semyon and her uncle, Anna comes to learn that Semyon and his unstable son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), had abused, forced into prostitution, and raped the girl.

Semyon's driver is the Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen), who serves as the family's driver and "cleaner", dumping dead bodies in the River Thames. As Nikolai's star rises within the vory, Semyon sponsors him as a full member, due in part to Nikolai's protection of Semyon's bumbling son who authorizes a hit on a rival Chechen vory leader. The hit was not approved by Semyon and was ill-advised with the Chechen gang now coming to London to seek vengeance. Semyon, impressed by Nikolai's knowledge of the criminal underworld and tolerance and protection of his son, hatches a plan to trick Nikolai, now a full member of the vory, so that Nikolai would temporarily take Kirill's place during the meeting with the Chechens at the baths. As Chechens attack Nikolai thinking he was Kirill, Nikolai is able to kill them both, ending up in the hospital with severe wounds as the result.

It is revealed near the end of the film that Nikolai is actually a FSB (the agency formerly known as KGB) informer infiltrated in the gang, working under license by the British Government. As part of his undercover duties, Nikolai was able to read Anna's diary before Semyon had it destroyed and hatched a plan so that Semyon would go down for Tatiana's rape, making Nikolai the most powerful member of the London branch of the mob (more powerful than the unstable Kirill, who is thought to be a homosexual by the homophobic mobsters of the film). The plan works, with Anna eventually raising the baby and Nikolai becoming the crime boss.