Mark recovers and in the following days, Alex brings his wife Vera and two children for a trip to his childhood home in the countryside.

In the end, Alex forces Vera to have an abortion hoping they will be able to re-build their relationship and save their marriage once this unborn baby is out of the way.

The next day, Vera finds out she is pregnant and confides with Robert, revealing that she never had an affair and that the baby was in fact Alex's, even though she says it felt like it wasn't his as they hardly ever talk.

[citation needed] The film's screenplay was presented to Zvyagintsev by Artyom Melkumian, an Armenian friend of his who worked as a television cameraman.

"[4] Zvyagintsev tried to avoid casting Konstantin Lavronenko who played a lead role in his previous film, The Return, but said "In the end I couldn't find anyone else who could be his equal.

"[5] Zvyagintsev postponed filming and waited twelve months for actress Maria Bonnevie who had a year-long contract with the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.

[citation needed] The city exterior scenes were filmed in historically industrial towns of Belgium and northern France: Charleroi,[6] Roubaix[7] and Tourcoing.

Finnish bank notes were altered to make them look more abstract and a French sign was digitally removed in post-production.

Based on 20 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Banishment has an overall approval rating from critics of 65%, with an average score of 5.1/10.

The website's critical consensus states, "Beautifully shot, but ultimately disappointing, lumbering sophomore effort from Russian potential great Andrey Zvyagintsev".

"[16][17] Anton Bitel said "the viewer's patience is rewarded with exquisite painterly images, some unexpectedly rapid developments and a truly bleak vision of human error and its consequences.

"[15] The film drew frequent comparisons to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky,[1][18][19] as well as visually referencing Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, and Michelangelo Antonioni.

"[19] Empire's David Parkinson said the film "feels more like a ciné dissertation designed to showcase Zvyagintsev's appreciation of the medium than an original piece of cinema.