Synopsis
Lilja lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilja hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei. He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilja arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.
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Cast
- Oksana AkinshinaLilja
- Artyom BogucharskyVolodja
- Lyubov AgapovaLilja's Mother
- Liliya ShinkaryovaAunt Anna
- Elina BenensonNatasha
- Pavel PonomaryovAndrei
- Tomasz NeumanWitek
- Anastasiya BedredinovaNeighbor
- Tõnu KarkSergei
- Nikolai BentslerNatasha's Boyfriend
Recommendations
- 100
ReelViews
Light entertainment, this is not. Unforgettable and challenging cinema, it is. - 100
The New Yorker
As with "Together," Moodysson has pulled off a staggering dramatic coup, and again we are forced to ask: How does he do it? [21 & 28 April 2003, p.194] - 91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's almost too devastating for words, yet never less than compelling and heartbreakingly affecting. - 90
Washington Post
Lilya's struggle to make a life for herself is both heartbreaking and heart-stirring. - 90
The New Republic
It is Akinshina's presence and performance that make the pedestrian story heart-wrenching. She is pretty, responsive, reflective. Without the slightest strain, she convinces us of the beauty and pathos and hope within Lilya. - 88
New York Post
Lilya is portrayed by Oksana Akinshina, who gives a dynamic, heartbreaking performance... She was wonderful in ["Brothers"], but is even more astonishing in Lilya 4-Ever. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie, written and directed by Lukas Moodysson, has the directness and clarity of a documentary, but allows itself touches of tenderness and grief. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
This grim Danish-Swedish production is socially revealing and artistically creative, both coldly realistic and infused with compassion for its heroine and her youth culture.
