Last Resort (2000 film)

Tanya, a young Russian woman, arrives with her 10-year-old son Artyom in London, expecting to be met by her fiancé Mark. When he does not arrive, Tanya panics and claims political asylum, resulting in her and her son being confined to the small seaside town of Stonehaven while their claim is considered, a process she is told could take up to a year. Stonehaven, a former resort town, has been converted into a ''designated holding area'' for undocumented immigrants. Tanya and Artyom are placed in a shabby apartment building that overlooks an abandoned amusement park. The area is patrolled by officers who make sure that refugees don't escape. Tanya, who illustrated children's books in Russia, carries a framed illustration she made amongst her belongings.

Tanya is propositioned by Les, an Internet pornographer, to participate in webcam porn videos. Though Tanya is initially wary of the idea, she decides to take up Les' offer when she is desperate for money. As she dresses up in one of the costumes Les gives her and crawls onto the bed, she starts crying and cannot follow through with the video, ultimately leaving. She finds other ways of making money, such as donating blood. Using the holding area's one operating payphone, she is finally able to make contact with Mark, but he breaks up with her.

Tanya attempts to withdraw her claim for asylum and tells the council officers she wants to go back to Russia, but she is told the review of her petition could still take months. Alfie, a former boxer who manages the local amusement arcade, takes sympathy in Tanya's plight, helping her with using the phone line and bringing necessities for her and Artyom. Artyom bonds with Alfie and the two repaint the drab flat he shares with his mother. Though Tanya does not want to get her heart broken again, she enters into a relationship with Alfie. Alfie reveals how he came to end up in Stonehaven; after doing prison time for a fight he got into, he felt he had nothing else to go back to, saying the town is full of "fuckups" like him. Tanya gets choked up when she admits that she's been married and divorced twice previously, crying that it is bad for her and Artyom, but Alfie comforts her. Artyom soon falls in with a group of tough kids who drink, smoke, and engage in petty theft. One day, Les goes to see Tanya at her flat and pays her for the first video attempt, promising more money if she returns and completes the video. Alfie hears through the door and inquires about what business Les is seeking with Tanya, but she denies any involvement.

Later, Alfie angrily walks into Les' home and interrupts a webcam video he is filming, destroying his camera and the furniture. Alfie comes to get Tanya and Artyom, saying he is going to get them out of Stonehaven. The three of them hide in a small, abandoned sailboat on the beach; when the water rises, they sail away and manage to evade the security guards. Alfie, as well as Artyom, want Tanya to stay in England, but she reasons she has to go back to start a new life. Alfie finds a truck for Tanya and Artyom that will take them to the airport. After embracing, Tanya and Alfie say they'll remember each other. Tanya leaves Alfie with the framed illustration as a gift.

Margate, in the Thanet District of Kent, doubled as the fictional seaside town of Stonehaven, and was the setting for the majority of the film.^[4][5]