Child 44 takes Tom Hardy’s Leo Demidov on hunt for a serial child-killer

Child 44, the film adaptation of the 2008 thriller novel of the same name by British writer Tom Rob Smith, is scheduled to be released to US theaters on April 17. Directed by Daniel Espinosa from a screenplay penned by Richard Price based on Smith's book, the movie follows the story of Leo Demidov, a disgraced Russian secret police officer in the 1950s' Stalinist Russia who was framed for treason and who was sent to a remote outpost, where he uncovers a series of mysterious murders tied to a government conspiracy.

According to the film's storyline, Leo never questions his patriotic duty until he was accused of the brutal murder of the young son of his friend. When even his beloved wife is then accused of being a traitor, Leo is disgraced and banished to a work camp. There he stumbles across a series of child murders matching the death of his friend's son. Thus did Leo begin tracking down the murderer. And much to his shock, finds that his connection to it is deeper and more dangerous than he could have ever imagined.

Tom Hardy portrays the Soviet officer Leo Demidov, while Noomi Rapace plays his wife Raissa, who pretends to be a doting partner but is apparently concealing much from him. Gary Oldman portrays police head General Timur Nestorov. The oters in the cast include Joel Kinnaman as Vasili, Jason Clarke as Anatoly Brodsky, Charles Dance as Major Grachev, Vincent Cassal as Major Kuzmin, Sam Spruell as Doctor Tyapkin, Tara Fitzgerald as Inessa Nesterov, Paddy Conside as Vladimir Malevich, Josef Altin as Alexander, Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Ivan Sukov, Sonny Ashbourne Serkis as Artur, Ned Dennehy as The Coroner, Fares Fares as Alexei Andreyev, and Xavier Atkins as the young Leo Demidov.

Child 44, the novel on which the film was based, is in turn founded on the real-life crimes of Andrei Chikatilo, the 'Rostov Ripper' who was convicted and executed in 1994 for sexual assault, mutilation and murder of at least 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990 in the Soviet Union.