ANYONE lucky enough to have caught Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's last film, Together - one of the surprise non-mainstream hits of 2001 - will be desperate to see his latest offering.

Lilya-4-Ever, though, is a very different film from the commune-based comedy. A harrowing and sobering tale about adult neglect and abuse of young people, it tells the story of 16-year-old Lilya, who lives in a dismal suburb of a nameless town in the former Soviet Union.

Abandoned by her mother and bullied by a wicked aunt, her only comfort comes from Volodya, a kind-hearted younger boy whom she befriends. Hope arrives when Lilya meets and falls in love with Andrei, who asks her to move to Sweden with him and begin a new life.

Full of anticipation, she boards the plane - unaware that her dreams are about to turn to nightmares.