Directed by Bogdan George Apetri, drama, 118 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Written by Bogdan George Apetri
With Emanuel Pârvu, Cezar Antal, Ovidiu Crișan, Ioana Bugarin
19-year old Cristina, an Orthodox Christian novice, secretly leaves her convent at dawn to settle a personal matter in town. The encounters she has along the way change her mind and even the course of her life. A judicial investigation that ensues later reveals elements of a fleeting miracle…
The audience will witness some black humour, some brutality, an abundance of rash judgment, some tenderness, and plenty of manifestations of the secular-religious divide. The feelings and motives that animate each protagonist ripen under the ruthless eye of the masterful camera (Oleg Mutu). Wind, the looming thunder, birdsong and the way-too-lyrical oldies played on the radio often crack open windows onto the characters’ souls. The director-scriptwriter, who was born in these idyllic lands but currently resides in the United States, wove this movie as the second panel in a triptych of detective films (following Unidentified, also screened at CinEast this year), where the characters reemerge by chance and take turns in the spotlight.
The film premiered at the Orrizonti section of Venice IFF 2021.