Intense and excellent. A bit haphazard and hectic in the final 10 minutes, but almost necessarily so. A thoroughly engrossing performance by Jessie (Emily Mortimer), who has just about the worst train ride across Russia in history. It's almost agonizing to watch some scenes in the latter half of this movie, when "shit gets real," to borrow a phrase. The suspense factor is a driving force throughout, and boy, is it done well.
Shorter Transsiberian: Two Americans take a train across Russia and bad stuff transpires. I'd feel bad saying more because, while there isn't a mega-twist per se, it would be a major disservice to the viewer to start revealing things that are meant to be surprising.
Creepy music. Foreign dialects. Lots of alcohol. Snow. More snow. An endless train ride. Getting separated from your spouse in Russia. Oddly sexual and overly friendly foreign dude. Is there any way shit doesn't get totally fucked? (It might sound cliche, but it's done quite well.)
On another note, am I crazy, or has there been a propaganda movement lingering beneath the surface of American cinema for the past decade trying to convince me to never, ever, ever go anywhere in Europe besides Britain? If you want horror, you don't need any semblance of a plot. All that is required is that the setting be Russia or Amsterdam or Turkey or Lithuania. The rest takes care of itself. As soon as you get off the plane, you will be raped and murdered, or tortured and then murdered. Easy peasy.
Finally, Transsiberian had a nice touch toward the end, capturing what I think is a nightmare of mine, where the two main characters, speeding along through the snowy countryside of Russia, realize that they are alone on the train. Pretty surreal.
