History YMMV / EasternPromises

* SignatureScene: The naked knife fight in the sauna, featuring full frontal nudity from ViggoMortensen.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The singer at the restaurant was the subject of many comments on discussion boards.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Film/AHistoryOfViolence obviously, but there is one particularly interesting parallel with Nickolai's character and [[spoiler: Tom Stahl]] where one is [[spoiler: an every day family man with a secret past involving murderous Irish mobsters and the other is an undercover police officer who has infiltrated an especially violent family of Russian mobsters]]

** As of 2013, you can add Tatiana Maslany as the voice of Tatiana.

* CompleteMonster: Semyon at first seems [[BaitTheDog a nice old man]], but it's later revealed he is a domineering, abusive and violent man who has little but contempt for his unstable, AmbiguouslyGay son Kirill and also runs a sex-slave ring in addition to his usual criminal activities. He is also the rapist of a 14 year old girl, having raped her out of disgust when Kirill couldn't do the deed. The girl, Tatiana, later dies in childbirth, and to cover his tracks Semyon attempts to have the people looking into Tatiana's case murdered and sends Kirill to drown the baby girl- Kirill's own sister.

* RetroactiveRecognition: [[GameOfThrones Maester Luwin and Pyp.]]
** Made cooler when you realize the movie was cast by Nina Gold, the same woman who cast GameofThrones. Entirely possible that Maester Luwin and Pyp are played by Donald Sumpter and Josef Altin, respectively, precisely because Nina Gold remembered them from their work here.
** As of 2013, you can add Tatiana Maslany as the voice of Tatiana

* CompleteMonster: Semyon may truly look out for his family, but he still runs a well-organised sex-slave ring, [[spoiler: rapes a 14-year old girl]] and [[spoiler: tries to have a baby murdered]].

** Made cooler when you realize the movie was cast by Nina Gold, the same woman who cast GameofThrones. Entirely possible that Maester Luwin and Pyp are played by Donald Sumpter and Josef Altin, respectively, precisely because Nina Gold remembered them from their work here.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Kirill]] is willing to go along with killing people and subjecting under-age girls to the sex trade, but he draws the line at [[spoiler: murdering a baby]]. Of course, viewers will think that Semyon crossed this point ''long'' before the film even started.

* AmbiguouslyGay: While the movie produces more HoYay that you could shake a stick at, Kirill is never explicitly shown to be gay. A mobster lets loose a rumour that he might be gay but right before that we get a scene of him in his father's brothel and he seems to be enjoying himself by all accounts.
** Just before he freaks out and demands Nikolai sleep with a prostitute...while he watches. Can we say 'projection?'

* FanDisservice: All the sex and nudity can be seen as this.

* CompleteMonster: Semyon. When Anna first talks with him, he seems like a respectable fellow, but quickly turns to "I know where you live" tactics against her. [[spoiler:He backstabs Nikolai by setting him up to be killed. He raped and impregnated a 14-year-old girl, who died from it, ordered his son to kill his baby.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: [[GameOfThrones Maester Luwin and Pyp.]]

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Soyka's body in the freezer. Also the neck-slit-while-urinating scene would do the trick.

* {{Narm}}: "YOU ARE GOING TO FAHK ONE OF THESE BEETCHES!"

* FanDisservice: All the sex can be seen as this.
* FanService: About ten minutes of naked Viggo Mortensen kicking ass (and getting his ass kicked).
** YourMileageMayVary on this one; people getting slashed and stabbed isn't all that titillating unless you've got...erhmm... [[{{Gorn}} specialised interests.]]
** Ahem... it's ''[[EstrogenBrigadeBait Viggo Frickin' Mortensen]]'', and [[spoiler: he wasn't that badly injured in contrast with those other two blokes]].

* Narm: "YOU ARE GOING TO FAHK ONE OF THESE BEETCHES!"

* BetterThanItSounds: A midwife investigates a rape case with the occasional help of a heavily tattooed Russian man.

* FanDisservice: [[YourMileageMayVary All the sex]].

** YourMileageMayVary on this one; people getting slashed and stabbed isn't all that titillating unless you've got...erhmm... [[FetishFuel specialised interests.]]

* Narm: "YOU ARE GOING TO FAHK ONE OF THESE BEETCHES!"

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Soyka's body in the freezer. Also the neck-slit-while-urinating scene would do the trick.

* {{Narm}}: The scene where Kirill and Nikolai visit one of the family's brothels, and Kirill forces Nikolai to have sex with one of the prostitutes. With the accent, it comes out like "YOU WILL FACK ONE OF THESE BEETCHES!". And then he starts screaming and ranting in Russian.
** Also the somewhat bathetic climax of the film.

* CrowningMomentofAwesome: The FullFrontalAssault.