From the same imagination that brought one of the world's best feel-good movies "Together" to the big screen comes "Lilya 4-Ever," one of the world's most depressing movies. Set in a suburb in an undisclosed area of the former Soviet Union, the movie chronicles three months in the life of 16-year-old Lilya.

From the time Lilya's no-goodnik mother abandons her to the lonely trip to Sweden, the film is relentlessly heartbreaking. Oksana Akinshina as Lilya and Artiom Bogucharskij as the homeless Volodya give flawless performances full of unrealized dreams and pain. In fact, it's Lilya's dreams of a better life that fuel the film, giving it both sadness and hope. You can't help wanting something good to happen to her all the while knowing nothing will.

The cinematography in "Lilya 4-Ever" is appropriately gray and dreary. It's as if nothing good could ever come from the projects in which Lilya lives. All the kids huff glue, and the girls-even the ones with fathers-prostitute themselves for spending money. The remains of the Soviet Empire, embodied in a rundown munitions factory called "The Pentagon," cast a shadow over the entire landscape. The dream of escape is the only dream.

Add to this a dashing tourist with money to spend and his own car, and Lilya is headed for disaster. Volodya, her one loyal friend, sees it coming from a mile away, but Lilya jumps in the only way she can-with her entire heart. Literally held prisoner, she's passed around to aging Swedish men in a montage that makes you uncomfortably claustrophobic and ready for Lilya's final escape. It's true: "Lilya 4-Ever" is horribly depressing, and no one in their right mind should subject themselves to such bleak circumstances, except that Lilya has something she should teach us all: hope.

Beck Finley is a freelance writer and editor.