Popular reviews

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 5

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  By chance, I am watching this on Mother's Day. I make no apologies.

  This film contains three stunning moments of sacrifice (well, more, really, but three that stood out). The first is when Otilia sleeps with the abortionist for Gabita (who then also sleeps with him). It's a disgusting moment, as the man forces a woman in a moment of pure vulnerability to pleasure him, despite being entirely off-camera. It's the most gut-churning moment of the entire film. It's also the moment that makes it clear how the anti-abortion laws fully put women at the power of men, making it as sleazy and direct as possible.

  The second moment is when Otilia goes to her boyfriend's house, despite her awful…

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  Review by CinemaCl🎃wn ★★★★½ 2

  After the fall of Communism in 1989 Romania and a decade of struggle that followed due to the post-revolution aftereffects, a new breed of filmmakers started what soon turned out to be the resurgence of Romanian films that has since impressed the critics & viewers around the world over the course of the new millennium. And leading this cinematic wave and the most notable testament to Romania’s renaissance & steady prominence in today’s film world is none other than director Cristian Mungiu’s sociopolitical drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days which not only qualifies as arguably the finest film that Romanian film industry has offered us so far but is also one of its decade’s most accomplished, powerful & haunting works of cinematic…

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  Review by Emily Housel ★★★★½ 3

  Holy crap. This really got to me. Keep abortion safe and legal

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  Review by BrandonHabes ★★★★★ 26

  Abortion is horrible, but so is policing women's bodies. Mungiu knows where he stands, but his film lends the impression of a cruel atmosphere where pro-life exists under the insidious creep of an Orwellian state, and pro-choice is visualized in the most graphic, heartless and unrepentant of details. Fuck both sides. Fuck the anti-abortion side that takes no consideration for a woman's autonomy and bodily rights AND fuck the reality of any pulverized fetus that feels pain as it flees from the very process of mutilation. Both sides are ugly. Mungiu’s film lets you ponder the horror regardless of whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice because at the end of the day, women are the victims of a totalitarian state AND…

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  Review by forelavy 3

  bye i’m gonna go take a very long shower and stare blankly down the drain

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  Review by 🌻 lindsay 🌻 ★★★★½

  Bro the last 30 minutes of this movie had my heart RACING. This was so so intense in the best way. I felt so much empathy for these characters and the way we followed their story made me feel so connected to them. I feel like my heart is so heavy right now but this film was so beautiful. This is so important and I think everyone should see it. Let women be in control of their own bodies!!!

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  Review by Jerry McGlothlin ★★★★ 17

  Absolutely searing. A germane piece of cinema to society and the issue of human rights that, unfortunately, transcends its time and setting entirely; it’s relevance just as strong today as ever.

  4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days speaks louder than anything I could possibly put down here, and it does so with such a strong sense of realism and humility for its characters.

  The performances are heart-rending, the script is flawless, the camerawork is handheld and so indicative of the feelings these women must be experiencing over the course of the film.

  Anyone who makes the personal decision to seek an abortion should have the unequivocal right to do so without outside influence, shame or fear of punishment—in a safe environment, carried out by a medical professional.

  That’s all.

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  Review by anjy ★★★★★ 1

  a very important yet difficult watch. the power this film holds leaves me speechless.

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  Review by shookone ★★★★½

  how to picture the corrosive barbarity of a dictatorship? Cristian Mungius answer is to look in the private sphere. the gapless description of an abortion in the Ceausescu era is in all its simplicity strikingly brutal and disturbing. the grim social study reflects trepidation, anxiety and feels like the chronicle of a trauma to happen. the spectator chokes from the "non-images", the absence of the camera in the most delicate moments.

  the infamous ending has all the symbolic power: Ceaucescus romania is nothing but a killing machine, which lets the victims lay open for all eyes to see while having been hidden in the narration. cinema of misery and depression, one that isn't clumsily moralistic, but showing the abject hardship on a very palpable, sensitive level.

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  Review by Robert ★★★★½ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Romania in the late 80s presents itself with very interesting topics. Having been beleaguered by communism for twenty-something years, those last few knockings of Ceaușescu's mandate were very stern to the population. Indeed, everyone who's lived back then will tell you about the wages and how everyone was obliged to contribute with their work-force, thus resulting in a low percentage of the population being out of work, but I digress. There are lots to talk about here, as what Mungiu's craft does, is put on film how dire the situation was. Do bear in mind that this is a singular case. 20th century Romania is a treasure trove for propping up a movie plot. From our arguably greatest poet being…

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  Review by Kevflix And Chill ★★★★½ 1

  2007 Palme d’Or winner is riveting. We follow two Romanian college students Gabita and Otilia over a 24 hour period. When Gabita discovers she’s pregnant the roommates set out on a chilling quest for an illegal abortion. Utilizing long takes and featuring an incredible performance from  Anamaria Marinca (Otilia) as she’s doing literally everything she can to help her friend through this situation. I found it incredibly powerful to view this film through the gaze of Otilia rather than Gabita. Though it’s clear Otilia is upset with many of the decisions that Gabita makes along the way, Otilia perseveres because she realizes just how easily she it could have been in the same situation and/or find herself there in the future.  It’s…

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  Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★★½ 13

  4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a tale of friendship challenged by circumstances. Set in Romania during the Decree 770 era, when abortion was illegal, the film presents a series of difficult decisions made by a pregnant woman and her friend. Their situation is vulnerable, opening them up to exploitation and blackmail, with additional risks of physical harm and potential imprisonment. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is bravely straightforward and uncompromising, made in a matter in fact manner mostly consisting of long takes. Nothing feels melodramatic. Instead the world presented feels very real, filled with little details. Abortion restrictions become a microcosm of broader restrictions on life. Characters do not have freedom, and the economic and…