4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a tense, unflinching drama set in Romania in 1987, at the height of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s repressive regime. The film follows a single day in the lives of two college roommates: Gabita, nearly five months pregnant and desperate to end the pregnancy, and Otilia, who tries to arrange and carry out an illegal abortion for her friend. With birth control outlawed and abortion criminalized, every step they take is fraught with danger, bureaucracy and moral risk. Viewing this film is an intense, tightly focused experience. The narrative unfolds in real time over one long day, and the camera lingers on small, ordinary actions—checking into a hotel, pleading with a receptionist, tracking down a mysterious abortionist—so that pressure and dread build steadily. The atmosphere is bleak and claustrophobic: public institutions, petty officials and the omnipresent threat of punishment create a background of anxiety that makes private acts feel perilous and exposing. You’ll encounter raw, naturalistic performances and a spare, documentary-like style that emphasizes realism over melodrama. The friendship between Otilia and Gabita is at the film’s emotional core; as setbacks multiply, their loyalty and limits are tested. The story is as much about everyday survival under an authoritarian state as it is about the immediate crisis, offering a quiet but powerful social and political critique of life in late-Communist Romania. Expect to come away unsettled and moved: the film refuses easy answers, instead forcing the viewer to inhabit a moment of emergency, ethical ambiguity and human compassion. It’s emotionally draining but morally urgent, rewarding close attention with a deeper understanding of how political systems shape private lives.

Actors: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov

Director: Cristian Mungiu

Runtime: 113 min

Genre: Drama

97 /100 7.9 /10 8.8 /10