Strong and Moving!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

If I had a dollar for every time I laughed out loud during this movie, I would have like... 20 dollars. I'm glad that this film exists, as there aren't many films out there detailing the events of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. However, Candles in the Dark pushes the historical events in the movie to the background, and instead focuses on a set of boring, unrealistic, and sometimes flat out unlikeable characters. The main character, Sylvia, is an entitled typical "American" who is unbearable throughout the entire runtime of the film. Her love interest, Jaan Toome is actually a decent actor, but is fed an absolutely terrible script, which applies to every other character in the movie. The pacing is atrocious, and characters go from being angry with each other to hugging in a matter of seconds. The change is off-putting, and is often hilarious which is sad considering the subject matter of this movie. I did however enjoy the last 10 minutes of this movie. SPOILERS. The final scene is a quiet moment in which Estonians peacefully enter the dome church for the first time in 50 years, even winning over the Soviet soldiers. Throughout this whole scene hymns are sung in the background and this adds a lot of character to the moment. This sequence symbolized unity among the people of Estonia, even between the natives and Russians, and stands as a landmark in the history of Estonian freedom from Soviet control. However this is still a very weak movie, and I cannot recommend anybody to watch it.

In hopes of shaping her up, Sylvia (played by Alyssa Milano) is sent to Estonia to live with her aunt. Though happy to see her family, she wants nothing to do with being in Estonia, a place without the luxuries of home, where most people don't even own telephones. However, once she discovers that Estonia is also a place where Christmas is not allowed to be celebrated, churches are closed up, and most people are living in fear, she discovers a passion to reach out and help. Soon after, she finds herself in the middle of a group effort to help Estonians regain the right to celebrate Christmas, following in her father's footsteps, and falling in love with the leader of the rebellion. However, before she can whole-heartily fight for the Estonians, she must first learn to put aside shallow things and realize what is truly important in life. This is a movie of adventure, heroism, courage, hope, love, compassion and danger. If you're looking to be inspired, I highly recommend it!