Sex Traffic is a two-part mini-series about the trafficking of young women from Eastern Europe to the West.
As it opens, a young woman is to be smuggled to Italy. Her young American boyfriend, who is a member of a civilian mercenary peacekeeping force, tries to buy her freedom, but is caught, fired, and sent home by his superiors, who are actually running the trafficking. The girl
drowns when she is tossed overboard as a police decoy.
Meanwhile, two sisters, Maria Popistasu and Anamaria Marinca, are about to start down the same path, having been promised a new life in London. They have several very unpleasant stops along the way. We
also meet a zealous but cautious international agent who is trying to break up the ring, and the president of the paramilitary company, and his wife, who is in charge of company charity.
The plight of the women is clearly shown, including brutal beatings, rape, threats of harm to their children,
and even being shot to death when they contract VD. The opportunity for
additional abuse by peacekeeping forces is also shown clearly.
The locations and photography do not disappoint, the performances are fine, and
the story is compelling, but at 189 minutes, I was ready for it to end.
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to
read the
explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by
our definition, a
C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs
and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:
