Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

The Banishment (2007) movie poster

Plot Summary

The Banishment (2007) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2007 · 158 mins · Russian
Loading streaming availability…
Directed by
Andrey Zvyagintsev
Starring
Maria Bonnevie, Aleksey Vertkov, Igor Sergeev, Ira Gonto, Konstantin Lavronenko, Maksim Shibayev

While vacationing at his childhood home in the countryside, a husband is blindsided when his wife announces she is pregnant—but the baby is not his. The revelation forces the couple to confront betrayal, with the story probing whether they will seek revenge or find a path to forgiveness.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like The Banishment
  6. 6 Every angle
Loading streaming availability…

Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in The Banishment: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of The Banishment (2007) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

In the film's opening scene, Mark comes to Alex's house for help removing a bullet from his arm. Mark is wary of going to a hospital because of his criminal affiliations and the police inquiries which would result from visiting a public hospital. Mark recovers, and in the days that follow, Alex brings his wife Vera and their two children on a trip to his childhood home in the countryside. The serenity of the countryside is disrupted when Vera tells Alex that she is pregnant, but that this baby is not his. The rift between the couple widens, yet they try to maintain appearances in front of their children and the old friends who visit them.

Alex is unsure about what to do and turns to his brother Mark for advice. On the way to meet Mark at the train station, Kir reveals that Alex's young friend Robert was at their house one day while Alex was away for work. Alex concludes that Robert is the baby's father. Vera feels estranged from her husband and fears that Kir will follow in Alex and Mark's criminal footsteps.

In the end, Alex forces Vera to have an abortion, hoping they will be able to rebuild their relationship and save their marriage once this unborn baby is out of the way. While their children are at a friend's house, he enlists Mark's criminal connections to find a doctor to perform the procedure in their own house. After the abortion, Vera commits suicide by overdosing on pain-relieving medication. Alex and Mark rush the funeral arrangements as gossip spreads quickly through the countryside. After returning home from the funeral parlour, Mark suffers a heart attack. Against the doctor's advice, he attends Vera's funeral but dies before he and his brother reach home.

Alex returns to the city alone and goes to Robert's house with the intention of killing him. He falls asleep in his car outside the house and is awakened by Robert, who invites him in. As he retrieves the gun from the glove box, he discovers an envelope containing Vera's pregnancy test results and a note from Vera on the back. The film then cuts to a flashback showing the time Robert came to Alex's home while he was away. It is revealed that the day before, Vera had attempted suicide by overdosing on pills but was saved by Robert. The next day, Vera learns she is pregnant and confides in Robert, revealing that she never had an affair and that the baby was, in fact, Alex's, even though she says it sometimes felt as though it wasn’t his since they hardly spoke. She also expresses concerns about having another baby in a relationship that had been marked by a lack of communication.

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:42

Was this helpful?

Plot questions answered

The Banishment Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about The Banishment (2007): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why did Vera say the baby wasn't Alex's when it was actually his?

Vera told Alex the baby wasn't his because she was uncertain about the pregnancy and felt emotionally distant from her husband. In the flashback, she confided in Robert that she wasn't sure if the baby was Alex's since they had barely spoken for months, though she later realized the baby was likely Alex's all along. Her initial claim stemmed from insecurity and the breakdown of communication in their marriage.

  • vera pregnancy
  • baby paternity
  • alex vera marriage
  • communication breakdown
Q2

Why did Alex force Vera to have an abortion?

Alex forced Vera to have an abortion because he believed the baby was fathered by his friend Robert, viewing it as the ultimate betrayal. He thought that by removing the unborn child, they could eventually rebuild their relationship and save their marriage. Alex naively believed eliminating the evidence of betrayal would allow them to move forward, not understanding the psychological damage it would cause Vera.

  • abortion
  • alex vera
  • marriage crisis
  • betrayal
  • revenge
Q3

What did Alex find in the envelope at Robert's house?

In the glove compartment of his car, Alex found an envelope containing Vera's pregnancy test results and a note from Vera on the back. This evidence revealed that the baby was actually Alex's, not Robert's, completely undermining the assumption that had driven his decision to force Vera into abortion.

  • envelope
  • pregnancy test
  • robert house
  • evidence
  • truth
Q4

Why did Vera commit suicide after the abortion?

Vera committed suicide by overdosing on pain-relieving medication immediately after the abortion. The forced procedure, combined with her emotional isolation, sense of guilt, and feeling of being trapped in a marriage without communication, became unbearable. The abortion itself had already traumatized her, and she saw no way out of her despair.

  • suicide
  • overdose
  • vera death
  • abortion trauma
  • despair
Q5

What happened to Mark after Vera's funeral?

After returning from the funeral parlour following Vera's funeral arrangements, Mark suffered a heart attack. Despite the doctor's advice to rest, he insisted on attending Vera's funeral. Mark died of the heart attack before he and Alex could return home, leaving Alex alone with his guilt.

  • mark death
  • heart attack
  • funeral
  • alex brother
Q6

Why did Alex go to Robert's house to kill him?

Alex traveled to the city with the intention of killing Robert because he believed Robert was the father of Vera's unborn child. Driven by jealousy and a sense of betrayal, Alex wanted revenge on the man he thought had slept with his wife. He brought a gun from Mark's criminal contacts to carry out the killing.

  • alex robert
  • revenge
  • murder attempt
  • jealousy
  • betrayal
Q7

What did Robert do to help Vera before the main events?

Robert saved Vera from a suicide attempt the day before the main timeline begins. When Vera overdosed on pills, Robert found her and likely got her medical help, saving her life. This incident prompted Vera to confide in Robert about her pregnancy and her doubts about her marriage.

  • robert
  • vera rescue
  • suicide attempt
  • overdose
  • help
Q8

Why was Alex convinced Robert was the father?

Alex concluded Robert was the father based on information from his son Kir, who mentioned that their young friend Robert had been at the house while Alex was away for work. With his marriage already strained and his trust broken by Vera's pregnancy announcement, Alex jumped to the conclusion that Robert was responsible, despite having no concrete proof.

  • robert father
  • kir revelation
  • alex suspicion
  • false accusation
Q9

What was the significance of the film's flashback sequence?

The flashback sequence recontextualizes the entire story by revealing that Vera never actually had an affair and that the baby was Alex's. It shows Robert's rescue of Vera after her suicide attempt and her confession that she wasn't sure about the paternity due to the emotional distance in her marriage. This revelation exposes Alex's tragic error in forcing the abortion based on false assumptions.

  • flashback
  • reveal
  • truth
  • innocence
  • tragic mistake
  • plot twist
Q10

Why did Vera fear having another child with Alex?

Vera feared having another baby because she felt emotionally estranged from Alex and described their relationship as marked by a lack of communication. She expressed concerns about bringing a child into a marriage where she and Alex barely spoke, feeling that the pregnancy would only deepen her isolation and desperation.

  • vera fear
  • communication
  • marriage problems
  • child
  • isolation

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Banishment, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Banishment tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Slow-burn domestic tragedies like The Banishment

Stories where quiet tension within families erupts into irreversible tragedy. For viewers who appreciated the heavy, somber mood of The Banishment, this list features movies like it that focus on family crises and marital breakdowns. These emotional and touching family dramas share a similar tone and pacing, exploring heartbreaking themes with a devastating, slow-burn approach.

  • somber
  • tense
  • tragic
  • grieving
  • despair
  • melancholic
  • Tone: dark, tragic, oppressive
  • Pacing: slow, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Narratives in this thread typically revolve around a seemingly stable family whose foundations are cracked by a single revelation. The story then unfolds slowly, charting the characters' flawed decisions and emotional descent, often culminating in a tragic, irreversible loss that highlights the fragility of familial bonds.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here because they share a core focus on the internal destruction of a family, a slow and deliberate pacing that amplifies dread, and a consistently dark, heavy tone. They prioritize emotional realism and psychological depth over plot twists, resulting in a profoundly melancholic and tense viewing experience.

Movies about rural isolation and psychological torment like The Banishment

Films where vast, quiet landscapes amplify internal turmoil and despair. If you liked the way The Banishment used its countryside setting to create a tense, melancholic atmosphere, explore these similar films. These dramas and thrillers use rural isolation to explore themes of grief, loss, and despair, matching the slow pacing and heavy emotional weight.

  • quiet
  • oppressive
  • tense
  • despair
  • isolated
  • melancholic
  • Tone: melancholic, tense, quiet
  • Pacing: slow, atmospheric
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern often involves characters retreating to a remote location, hoping for peace, only to find their problems magnified by the solitude. The lack of external distraction forces them to confront painful truths, often leading to tragic outcomes driven by isolation-fueled paranoia or despair.

Why they belong together: These films are connected by their strategic use of setting to create mood. The emptiness and beauty of the natural world serve to underscore the characters' loneliness and internal chaos. This creates a specific vibe of quiet dread, where the environment itself becomes a character contributing to the psychological unraveling.

If you liked this

Movies Like The Banishment

Similar movies to The Banishment: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Every angle

The Banishment (2007) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Banishment in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app