Overview
- The film, which premiered in Competition on Monday, drew a 12-minute standing ovation that Deadline called the festival’s longest so far.
- The story follows a Romanian–Norwegian couple whose eldest arrives at school with bruises, triggering child-welfare action that removes all five children and sets off a legal fight.
- Early reviews praise Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve and cite Mungiu’s precise craft, while noting momentum dips when the film shifts into courtroom procedure.
- NEON holds distribution rights in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, with a theatrical release planned later this year.
- Critics frame the drama as a clash between strict religious parenting and Norway’s low tolerance for corporal punishment, with Mungiu withholding clear moral judgments.