Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Lilya 4-Ever

Play trailer Poster for Lilya 4-Ever R Released Apr 11, 2003 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
84% Tomatometer 70 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt (Liliya Shinkaryova), who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha (Elina Benenson) and Volodya (Artiom Bogucharski), who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov). He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilya arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Lilya 4-Ever

Lilya 4-Ever

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A tragic, hard-hitting story about a teenager trapped in a life of prostitution.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (70) Critics Reviews
James Christopher Times (UK) After making such a brilliant splash with his first two films -- Show Me Love and Together -- the Swedish director Lukas Moodysson seems to dry up in Lilya 4-ever. Dec 7, 2018 Full Review Alexander Walker London Evening Standard The social questions it raises are real enough; its sentimentality is what makes one doubt Moodysson is Ingmar Bergman's heir. Not by a long sob. Jan 10, 2018 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 4/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Wael Khairy The Cinephile Fix The film left me completely devastated and Oksana Akinshina’s performance is absolutely heartbreaking....“Lilya 4-ever” was so powerful it helped reshape laws within society. This is as important and urgent as cinema gets. Nov 20, 2023 Full Review Jay Antani Cinema Writer Lilya 4-Ever gives us a glorious, heart-wrenching debut performance in the lead, as auspicious as any in the history of cinema." Rated: 3/4 Aug 17, 2010 Full Review Brian Orndorf BrianOrndorf.com A harsh dramatic brew, Lilya 4-Ever is a monumental, abrasive document of a young life flushed down the drain; it's an exceptional, deafening humanitarian alarm that will continue to overwhelm and outrage for years to come. Rated: A Dec 17, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (885) audience reviews
Courtney K idk; i guess it does a good job portraying a sad story... i just wasn't really affected by it quite so much as others were. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/27/25 Full Review Jonathan K Brutal and harsh. The camera work gives it a documentary or reality TV feel that makes the injustice and darkness of the story stick to you in the most haunting of ways. It's not easy to shake. An extremely bleak movie depicting a reality that devastatingly isn't fictional in our world. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/25/24 Full Review Hilário the scene of her mother leaving, I died crying. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/05/23 Full Review Colin M A 16-year-old finds herself alone in the world and tries to get by. Subtitled in English. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/12/23 Full Review favio c Cruda, grafica y potente pelicula sobre la vida de la joven Lilyan en la pobreza y la soledad. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/29/23 Full Review Thee S Do not watch this movie if you're in a good mood. Excellent movie, but one I will never watch again. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Lilya 4-Ever

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
Open Hearts 93% 90% Open Hearts Watchlist Maria Full of Grace 97% 87% Maria Full of Grace Watchlist What Alice Found 68% 49% What Alice Found Watchlist Dancer in the Dark 70% 91% Dancer in the Dark Watchlist Dogville 70% 89% Dogville Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All Lilya 4-Ever photos

Lilya 4-Ever

Oksana Akinshina as "Lilya" in Lukas Moodysson's LILYA 4-EVER. Artiom Bogucharskij and Oksana Akinshina in Lukas Moodysson's LILYA 4-EVER. Oksana Akinshina during the shooting of Lilya 4-Ever. Artiom Bogucharskij, Nikolaj Bentsler, Elina Benenson and Oksana Akinshina in Lukas Moodysson's LILYA 4-EVER. Artiom Bogucharskij and Oksana Akinshina in Lukas Moodysson's LILYA 4-EVER. Oksana Akinshina as "Lilya" and Elina Beninson as "Natasha" in Lukas Moodysson's LILYA 4-EVER. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt (Liliya Shinkaryova), who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha (Elina Benenson) and Volodya (Artiom Bogucharski), who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov). He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilya arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.
Director
Lukas Moodysson
Producer
Lars Jönsson
Screenwriter
Lukas Moodysson
Distributor
Newmarket Film Group
Production Co
Sveriges Television, Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond, Memfis Film, Film i Väst, Zentropa Entertainment, Det Danske Filminstitut, Svenska Filminstitutet
Rating
R (Rape|Language|Drug Use|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Swedish
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 11, 2003, Wide
Box Office (Gross USA)
$181.7K
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital
Most Popular at Home Now