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Matryoshkas, those nesting wooden Russian dolls, serve as the MacGuffin in Brad Anderson’s sleekly crafted Hitchcockian thriller. They also suggest a model for the film’s structure, a cold layering of secrets within secrets. The payoff might be superficial, but the suspense and the intrigue compel. Credit Anderson’s ingenious use of space: he alternates between the claustrophobic confines of the train of the title and the blank vistas of a Siberian winter. American husband and wife Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) share a compartment with Eurotrash backpacker Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and his girlfriend, Abby (Kate Mara). Goody-goody Roy not only ignores the strangers’ unwholesomeness but is in the dark about the intentions of Grinko (Ben Kingsley), a Russian narc. Not so the less innocent Jessie, whose indiscretions and lies get them into deeper trouble. Although it doesn’t go as far as Strangers on a Train, TransSiberian is worth the ride. English + Russian | 111 minutes | West Newton
