Winner of the Best Director award at the 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Peter Bebjak’s thriller is all about crossing ‘lines’—both physical and moral—and the tragic consequences for doing so in the no-man’s-land straddling the Slovak Republic-Ukraine border. It’s 2007 and the Slovak Republic is about to join the European Union, something that could prove deadly for Adam (a riveting Tomáš Maštalír) and his cigarette-smuggling business. A husband and a father with a moral code—no involvement with hard drugs for him and his team—Adam is an anachronism, especially in relation to his thoroughly immoral, no-holds-barred Ukrainian rival across the border. With change coming, the stakes rising, and betrayal looming, Adam is backed into a corner…

‘Redolent of The Godfather and The Sopranos with a soupçon of Animal Kingdom and a welcome dose of black humour, The Line is an entertaining, fast-paced crime thriller… [It] leaps to the top of its genre class with muscular direction from Slovak director Peter Bebjak; a genre-savvy screenplay by Peter Balko; unusual locations spectacularly captured; a propulsive score; and impressive performances, in particular, a go-for-broke, extremely physical turn from Slovak theatre and TV star Tomáš Maštalír as the lead.’—Alissa Simon, Variety