The Banishment 2007

In the film’s opening scene, Mark comes to Alex’s house for help removing a bullet from his arm. Mark is wary of going to a hospital because of his criminal affiliations and the police inquiries which would result from visiting a public hospital. Mark recovers, and in the days that follow, Alex brings his wife Vera and their two children on a trip to his childhood home in the countryside. The serenity of the countryside is disrupted when Vera tells Alex that she is pregnant, but that this baby is not his. The rift between the couple widens, yet they try to maintain appearances in front of their children and the old friends who visit them.

Alex is unsure about what to do and turns to his brother Mark for advice. On the way to meet Mark at the train station, Kir reveals that Alex’s young friend Robert was at their house one day while Alex was away for work. Alex concludes that Robert is the baby’s father. Vera feels estranged from her husband and fears that Kir will follow in Alex and Mark’s criminal footsteps.

In the end, Alex forces Vera to have an abortion, hoping they will be able to rebuild their relationship and save their marriage once this unborn baby is out of the way. While their children are at a friend’s house, he enlists Mark’s criminal connections to find a doctor to perform the procedure in their own house. After the abortion, Vera commits suicide by overdosing on pain-relieving medication. Alex and Mark rush the funeral arrangements as gossip spreads quickly through the countryside. After returning home from the funeral parlour, Mark suffers a heart attack. Against the doctor’s advice, he attends Vera’s funeral but dies before he and his brother reach home.

Alex returns to the city alone and goes to Robert’s house with the intention of killing him. He falls asleep in his car outside the house and is awakened by Robert, who invites him in. As he retrieves the gun from the glove box, he discovers an envelope containing Vera’s pregnancy test results and a note from Vera on the back. The film then cuts to a flashback showing the time Robert came to Alex’s home while he was away. It is revealed that the day before, Vera had attempted suicide by overdosing on pills but was saved by Robert. The next day, Vera learns she is pregnant and confides in Robert, revealing that she never had an affair and that the baby was, in fact, Alex’s, even though she says it sometimes felt as though it wasn’t his since they hardly spoke. She also expresses concerns about having another baby in a relationship that had been marked by a lack of communication.