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Maria (Maria Popistasu), Ilinca (Ilona Brezoianu) and Dan (Alex Bogdan)
are part of a group of cityfolks who drive out into the impoverished
countryside every December in their 4-wheel-drives to bring care packages
to the less fortunate in need. On their way to yet another remote village
they pick up old Kente (Luca Sabin), who asks for a ride to the next
sawmill ... and on their way the car gets stuck in the middle of the
woods. Kente decides to make the rest of the way alone, but eventually Dan
sets after him as the cold is setting in. Meanwhile, Maria and Ilinca are
offered assistance by two helpful Roma, but to the effect that their car
gets stuck even more. Dan returns to the car without Kente, as Kente has
violently chased him away, and is immediately upset that the car's state
has actually worsened. Maria insists that she and Dan go fetch Kente since
they've since learned that the sawmill has long closed down and Kente
suffers from dementia. The night doesn't go very well as promised help
fails to arrive, and on top of that Kente shits himself inside the car -
but the next morning it's Kente's friend Voicu (Aloman Florean) who
arrives on the scene first to pick everybody up ... Now this is
a film that seems to go out of its way to avoid hyperbole and instead
remain very grounded in telling its adventure story - and that's what
makes the film so touching, it's nothing over-the-top, just something
down-to-earth that can more or less happen to everybody, and the
characters react in a very natural manner to all things thrown at them.
And naturalistic performances combined with a very well-written script
that finds the poignant in the mundane keep things interesting throughout
while the beautiful Romanian backdrops provide the perfectly moody
backdrops to the proceedings to make this one rather impressive little
movie.
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