Cristian Mungiu’s provocative new film and had its world premiere in competition at Cannes. Mungiu addresses the complications of the economic necessity to work abroad for many people from struggling areas. In the film, a small Romanian town must deal with their work force migrating across Europe and the need for guest workers who arrive to fill the low-paying, necessary jobs resulting in xenophobia and unrest.
The film opens before Christmas when Matthias returns from working abroad to his native multi-ethnic mountain village in Transylvania. He is worried about the education his son Rudi has been receiving from his Romanian mother, Ana, and yearns to see his Hungarian ex-lover Csilla again. He finds his boy and the village under the shadow of a strange irrational fear and unsettlement. When the bakery that Csilla manages hires two foreign workers, deep-rooted impulses and resentments emerge, conflicts and emotions erupt and the veneer of peace in the community is shattered.
R.M.N. plays like a thriller. As tensions build within the community over fears of the migrants, the rural locals begin escalating their threats, creating a palpable sense of uneasiness. We get to see Mungiu apply his celebrated signature styles to something more muscular here, creating a sense of anxiety and complex social issues to be addressed. 2022, Romania, DCP, in Romanian, Hungarian, German, English, French, and Sinhala with English subtitles, 125 minutes. Recommended for 16+.