''I am driver,'' the enigmatic Russian Nikolai Luzhin says in the new movie Eastern Promises. ''I go left. I go right. I go straight ahead. That's it.''

Of course, Nikolai is more than just a driver. And the brutal, addictive Eastern Promises is more than just a conventional thriller even as it goes left, right and sometimes violently straight ahead.

The movie is a new collaboration between director David Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen, who plays Nikolai. The two teamed previously for the brooding pulp fiction of A History of Violence.

Like that movie and a lot of Cronenberg's work The Brood, Videodrome, Dead Ringers, The Fly Eastern Promises is also a meditation on perception and self-realization.

Written by Steve Knight (Dirty Pretty Things), the movie is full of characters who seem to be defined by their work, their backgrounds or their family. But as the movie proceeds, we see that their identities cannot be easily summed up. And even if they achieve some measure of self-awareness, they can remain puzzles to the audience. Cronenberg is not one for excessive explanation, or easy resolution.

Set in London, the movie begins with two deaths, one a grisly act of violence that is not immediately explained, the other of a Russian girl who has hemorrhaged during pregnancy. Her child is saved, and the question of what to do with the baby begins to preoccupy midwife Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts). Her only clue is that the mother has a diary, written in Russian that Anna cannot read, and a card for a Russian restaurant.

When Anna goes to the restaurant, she intersects with not only Nikolai but his bosses, the charming but ruthless gangster Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Semyon's son Kirill (Vincent Cassel). This is not a good thing for Anna. The diary which her uncle has begun to translate could do great harm to the gangsters. And they are capable of great harm in return; even Nikolai has a remorseless streak.

Many more things happen after that, but I'll let them unfold for you as you watch and worry. Eastern Promises has considerable tension, and scheming, and question marks. Anna's openness is in contrast to almost every other character's caution and cunning but especially in comparison to Nikolai, who is comfortable wearing a mask of boredom while taking in everything around him.

I should also mention that the movie is quite graphic. You may already have read about its contribution to the Year of the Penis Mortensen's fully naked fight scene. But there is also considerable blood-letting in that scene and others, and sexual currents that are thoroughly unpleasant.

But Eastern Promises is not about pleasant things. It takes us into a world where the best conflict resolution may be a cut throat, where sex is used to demonstrate power over others, where betrayal is commonplace. Even old-world traditions of music, food and celebration serve as a patina over ugly behavior.

The movie proves a bit abrupt in its later sections, with a revelation that is as brief as it is surprising and its matter-of-fact conclusion. While Mortensen is quite compelling, Watts is a bit dull but her character is also far less interesting than most of the people around her.

Still, Eastern Promises got a grip on me. And I was sorry when it let go.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.