User Reviews

This plays like a more grounded and dirtier version of 'Before Sunrise.' Juho Kuosmanen's romantic drama uses the bleak Russian winter landscape to frame a story about loneliness. Seidi Haarla and Yuri Borisov — who play two strangers with very different backgrounds that have to share a compartment on a train from Moscow to Murmansk — make one hell of a pair. Of course, since the start, we know where the relationship between the characters may go, but 'Compartment No. 6' subverts expectations by making them find a little of what they lack in each other in unforeseen and very funny ways. Kuosmanen changes the idyllic setting of Linklater's Western Europe setting for the cold and harsh northern Russian environment to get a more realistic effect. Just my kind of romance.

Compartment No. 6 tells the story of a woman who ends up in a train compartment with a man she does not know. The two of them start to talk and it quickly becomes apparent that they have a lot in common. As they continue to talk, the woman starts to realize that the man may be more than he seems. As the story progresses, the true nature of the man is revealed, and the woman must decide whether to trust him. The two lead performances are excellent, and the chemistry between the two actors is palpable. The film is visually stunning, and the setting of the train adds to the atmosphere of paranoia and claustrophobia. Unfortunately, the arc of the story becomes predictable early on, and the pace is so slow that one needs to be very patient to get through it. Some may find the payoff rewarding but, for me, it left me feeling hollow. Compartment No. 6 is a well-acted and beautifully shot film that falls victim to its own predictability. If you are willing to take your time with it, you may find something to appreciate. However, if you are looking for a fast-paced thriller, you will be disappointed.

It's perfectly acted and incredibly naturalistic. I'm only giving it an 8 because its scope and originality is a little lacking, but what it attempts to do, it succeeds in almost completely. Every actor was basically perfect but major props to the lead male who just exudes this kinda restless self-hatred - or is it extreme loneliness? - so convincingly that no exposition/explanation is required; and is somehow boisterous and a bit scary and vulnerable all at once. Great job. The only thing I didn't really like was the Finnish dude. I know we aren't meant to like him, but even so, I found that too much time was spent on that episode for little value. Very similar vibes to Lost in Translation, but it is still very much it's own thing. Also thankfully I didn't fall in love with the main character like I do every goddamn time with Scarlett Johannson. Haista vittu.

Based in late 1990s Russia Male protagonist is a Uber Russian male alcoholic miner Female protagonist is a Finnish lesbian university student They happen to take a multi-day train ride sharing the same train compartment across Russia How at the end of the journey they connect is the basic human drama they never f*** but awesome love story You will come out of the theater with a WIDE GRIN on your face 100 times better than Titanic for a Love story Obviously they are poles apart so they don't get together forever but it's haunting when she eventually leaves Great movie about: Companionship Friendship Travel Human connection Bleak beautiful landscapes Shot on the train with long haunting shots of train tracks passing by This will be a serious Oscar contender next year

I'll be blunt about this one -- I just didn't get it, and I don't know what the fuss is all about. Director Juho Kuosmanen's third feature tells the story of young Finnish archaeology student who travels from Moscow to Murmansk to see a collection of fabled Russian petroglyphs after being unceremoniously ditched by her girlfriend, a tale that meanders more than the tracks of the train on which she travels. To a great degree that's precipitated by the implausible "relationship" that slowly simmers between the protagonist and the drunken, lecherous, oversexed traveling companion who shares her train compartment, a working class lout who, when he's not excessively imbibing in anything alcoholic, engages in various forms of threatening and sexually aggressive behavior. (And we're supposed to believe that she's legitimately developing an attraction to someone like that? Yeah, sure.) And this is just the first of many illogical plot devices that pepper a narrative that increasingly lacks believability the further one gets into the film, including elements that unfold on its endless train trip and upon arrival in Murmansk, where yet another set of wholly unlikely events emerges. I didn't buy any of it, not for a minute, and I don't understand how others could, either. This one goes off the rails early on and never manages to get back on track, and, by movie's end, I'd be hard-pressed to understand why anyone would care anyway.