Alfie: Paddy Considine	Tanya: Dina Korzun
Artiom: Artiom Strelnikov	Les: Lindsay Honey
Katie: Katie Drinkwater	Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

30 Second Bottom Line: A Russian woman and her 10-year-old son become refugees when her fiancé does not come to pick her up at an airport in Britain. With no friends or means of support, she is forced to consider a life she never imagined.

Story Line: Tanya and her son Artiom (Dina Korzun and Artiom Strelnikov) arrive in Britain from their home in Russia, for what looks like the beginning of a wonderful new life. She is to meet a man she loves. The Customs official questioning her is suspicious because of her confusion about what to say when her fiancé does not show up to meet them. Handled with kid gloves, things quickly get ugly from there… somewhat of an oxymoron…which tells you that this is not your ordinary story.

After the Customs official learns she has only $85 in cash, she is unemployed, and that the contents of her luggage suggest she is relocating rather than visiting, she is politely asked to sit in a designated holding area to wait for her fiancé. When he does not come, she must either return to Russia or say that she lied and is seeking political asylum. She chooses the latter and is soon transported to a "visitors center" called Dreamland with other refugees.

Dreamland is an area outside of the city where there is an arcade and a rundown amusement park adjacent to high-rise apartment buildings, reminiscent of housing projects in large American cities. These displaced persons are caught up in a bureaucracy where they fill out applications for permanent status and wait, wait and wait…often for a year or more, for the most routine information. In the interim they are given free housing and food vouchers. Things are fine as long as they stay on the reservation. If they try to leave, which is really an escape, they are first counseled. Should they try a second time, they are put in jail.

Tanya is looking for salvation and her self-image is tied to acceptance by the man she loves. Men have disappointed her before, as was the case with her mother and grandmother. Too much has been linked to what the men in their lives do or not do.

Artiom and Tanya are soon desperate for money, but more so for freedom. Tanya is in front of a camera auditioning for soft porn on the Internet for sleezeball Les (Lindsay Honey). To raise extra money, she even goes to a blood bank. Artiom changes the dynamics in the household because he is an astute kid who is wise beyond his years and has a sixth sense of what is going on without being told.

At Dreamland, Artiom meets Alfie (Paddy Considine), the owner of the local arcade. He too is lonely and he likes Tanya and wants to spend time with her. He's very gentlemanly, and tries to win her charms by being nice to the boy. He also helps her spruce up her exceedingly bleak apartment that has almost no furniture and everywhere paint is peeling from the walls. She's not interested because she is in love with a man, who, for a reason not made clear in the film, asked her to come to his country and now totally ignores her.

Alfie, Tanya and Artiom all learn from each other and in the end, are better people for having figured out how to deal with living in Dreamland.

Tell Me More About It: Nations with healthy economies offer jobs and freedom of choice that poor countries do not. Immigration policy dictates how they keep the doors open for new citizens, as was the case for many of the country's current population. It appears to be a necessary evil, which is inherently unfair depending on your country of origin, the color of your skin or perceived lack of desirable skills.

For Tanya, her skills as a children's book illustrator, are not valued in Britain. Her only way to make money is a job akin to prostitution, where she shows it all, yet is only "touched" by the lens of a camera.

The film is about taking charge of your own future and assessing your self worth for yourself rather than others. Since everyone must have an ID or passport, it's not clear how the threesome of Alfie, Tanya and Artiom would make it outside of Dreamland, as those items belonging to Tanya and Artiom, are being held by the authorities.

The film is photographed with an overall blue tone, which gives it the melancholy feel that is the life lived by the people in Dreamland.

The ending of Last Resort is powerful, as we know that Tanya is making the right decision for the long term, even though the short-term effect is painful. One aspect of the story is over and while the future is uncertain, it is without doubt going to be brighter and much better.

Some people pass through your life to help you and whom you will never meet again. And sometimes when you think you won't, you do. Either way you are better off by having that person in your life. Everything happens for a reason.