The Trap

Adapted from a novel by Nenad Teofilovic, and astutely described by director Srdan Golubovic as a 'Balkan version of Crime and Punishment,' the literary roots of The Trap are evident. It's a tense Euro pulp fiction that poses an impossible moral dilemma: could you take a life to save a life?

In post-Milosevic Belgrade, a city in transition after years of violent conflict, architect Mladen lives with his wife Marija and their young son Nemanja. They appear normal, decent, good people, yet when Nemanja is diagnosed with a serious heart condition, his parents have to confront the fact that they can't raise the €26000 they need for the operation that would save him. Desperate, Mladen puts an ad in the paper, and he eventually gets an offer from a man who will hand over the money, but only if Mladen kills a business rival of his would-be benefactor. Struggling with his conscience, and watching his son getting more and more ill, how will Mladen act?

Nebojsa Glogovac's performance as Mladen is a revelation; he's an extraordinary and believable everyman at the centre of this enthralling modern film noir.

Michael Hayden