Trans-Siberian Russian Nesting

Caution: Spoilers ahead.

It seemed that each character in Transsiberian had something to hide. Jessie had an adventurous past, and despite Roy's good nature he did things in the course of the movie that he would later keep quiet. A seemingly normal couple, Jessie and Roy boarded the Trans-Siberian train after a stint in China and headed to Moscow. On the way, they encountered Abby and Carlos--a much different couple--with much more to hide.

In a pivotal scene, Carlos locked the cabin door with just himself and Jessie inside. He pulled out a bag of Russian Nesting Dolls and showed them to Jessie. He took special care to show her one specifically--the sad doll, with rosy cheeks and no smile--his favorite.

When Jessie discovers that the dolls are holding much more than wood--they are vessels for smuggling heroin--she tries to dump them off the train, flush them down the toilet, and leave them near a pile of burning rubble.

But let's be honest, she's not actually trying to hide heroin--she's hiding something much more serious. Lying dead and frozen in a deserted Russian snow bank was a man who claimed he had a hobby for collecting small Russian dolls--a man that had gone one step too far, and then fell to the ground bleeding. The rosy cheeked doll with the sad mouth wasn't hiding drugs, it was hiding murder.

Each character was their own stacking doll. Each layer had something new--something hidden--something that they wanted to protect. Whether the outer shell of the doll had a smile, a frown, dark makeup, or nerdy-off-brand glasses--each doll underneath had a secret.

Ride the Trans-Siberian with care--you never know what you will find.