cinehunch
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
01
Why this pick
Mungiu’s similarly austere, real-time-inflected moral pressure cooker uses restrained observation, fraught female loyalty, and an increasingly suffocating social environment.
02
Why this pick
Its cool, patient camera and accumulating ethical compromises echo the institutional scrutiny and quietly devastating moral ambiguity of Beyond the Hills.
03
Why this pick
A long, rigorously observed descent through indifferent institutions, balancing bleak absurdity with compassion and an unshowy documentary-like realism.
04
Why this pick
For the same demanding, observational Romanian New Wave sensibility: extended takes, opaque behavior, and unease built from mundane detail rather than conventional plotting.
05
Why this pick
Its spare black-and-white compositions and controlled performances create a similarly austere encounter between faith, buried history, and a young woman’s unresolved attachment.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
Two Romanian orphaned young women, Voichița and Alina, visit a Romanian Orthodox Church convent during Lent, where Voichița tells Alina the altar includes an icon that grants wishes. Alina had been working in Germany, and the two girls were previously roommates at a children's home and had shared a physical relationship. The monastery is led by a 30-year-old Priest who speaks ill of declining faith in Western Europe, citing same-sex marriage in Europe, and forbids anyone outside of the faith from entering. He inquires about Alina to Voichița, who tells him Alina irregularly attends church and does not go to Confession (religion). They urge Alina to begin confessing. Alina hopes to sleep with Voichița, but Voichița tells her they must be cautious given it is Lent.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
Voichita
Female parishoner
Lieutenant
Pharmacist
Ambulance assistant
Head nurse
Father Nusu
