The film concerns a Russian immigrant and her son who become stranded in a small English seaside town when her British fiancé does not show up as planned.

Tanya attempts to withdraw her claim for asylum and tells the council officers she wants to go back to Russia, but she is told the review of her petition could still take months.

Alfie, a former boxer who manages the local amusement arcade, takes sympathy in Tanya's plight, helping her with using the phone line and bringing necessities for her and Artyom.

The three of them hide in a small, abandoned sailboat on the beach; when the water rises, they sail away and manage to evade the security guards.

Margate, in the Thanet District of Kent, doubled as the fictional seaside town of Stonehaven, and was the setting for the majority of the film.

Scott of The New York Times wrote though the story "dwells on sorrowful circumstances and illuminates a grim corner of contemporary reality, [the film] is far from depressing.

Mr. Pawlikowski, most of whose previous films have been documentaries, balances the harsh naturalism his story demands with an almost romantic sense of visual beauty.

"[8] He added "the thoughtful stylishness of Mr. Pawlikowski's direction doesn't cheapen or aestheticize Tanya's plight but rather extends to her the dignity and compassion that only art can confer".

"[8] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four, and commented, "Dina Korzun's performance holds our interest because she bases every scene on the fact that her character is a stranger in a strange land with no money and a son to protect.

[9] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "Spare yet unsparing, emotionally affecting without even a hint of excess, it’s an honest, haunting look at the connection between a pair of lonely people who wonder where they belong.