I was very much thrown for a loop with the latest from Cronenberg for the simple fact that it’s very much unlike what you’d find from his repertoire. It’s low-key, it’s simplistic, and it doesn’t sport anything truly exciting that closes out the narrative. Instead it enters and closes with nothing more than a whisper, and composes itself in the vein of crime epics like “The Godfather.” Cronenberg’s story is about good and evil, and the inherent benefit that evil men take from the vulnerability of the pure and innocent. The character of Nikolai is a wonderful tragic figure of a man whose own soul was sold and broken decades ago and now all that remains is a shell holding a twisted soul.

Anna seeks to rescue the newborn from the clutches of misery, while Nikolai seeks to rescue the newborn in hopes of gaining a role at the head of his crime syndicate. Though rare to form for Cronenberg to create such a simplistic and straightforward thriller, he does, in typical fashion, evoke incredibly violent sequences that excel due to the realism he puts forth that add to some of the best scenes of the story. From the opening barbershop sequence, right down to one of the best and brutal fights in film that takes place in a bath house. Cronenberg doesn’t shy away from the realism he anxiously injects into this scene and gives Mortensen a truly great forum for his acting and physical abilities with constant scenes of him in full frontal nudity, and drenched in blood while fighting off two men.

“Eastern Promises” succeeds in drawing two different narratives, both with a strong sense of urgency and tension, and both with the frantic pacing that reveals a situation of dire importance set amidst the cold backdrop of Russia, and the vicious mafia who are prone to constant back stabbing and power struggles. Underrated character actor Viggo Mortensen gives one of the best performances of his career as Nikolai who seems friendly toward the saintly Anna, while Naomi Watts is powerful as the heroine pushed in between the struggle for power and attempts to seal old demons even at the expense of a baby. Cronenberg provides a masterful follow-up to the excellent “A History of Violence,” and once again implements the skilled Mortensen with a hell of a tense crime drama.

Though not the typical Cronenberg style, "Eastern Promises" is a surprising and rather suspenseful crime drama and the perfect follow-up from the director who composes a pleasing violent moral duality tale.