I like to see movies, I like to see a lot of movies, there is really only one other person I know who would willingly see the same amount and diverse range of movies as me. Inevitably this leads to me seeing a number of movies by myself and the cinema being the best escape I know, I am happy with this. Nevertheless, despite seeing ‘4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days’ by myself it was truly the most shared cinematic experience I have ever had. The audience around me last night inhaled and exhaled collectively, gasped in unison, couples moved closer together and no one dared break the raw silence that came after the final fade to black.

There is no getting away from the fact that this movie in a nut shell is ‘a Romanian abortion movie‘. It begins slowly, with two college roommates planning a trip, details and reason unknown, a clear sense of unease is evident. The conversations that follow, the actions these people take and the sacrifices made are devastating. The film seems to bluntly expose the world’s worst kept secret - us humans are frail creatures and at our most instinctive can make decisions that change us. We are entirely unsettled by this gut punching story of a world and choices we hate to admit exists.

There are no melodramatic breakdowns - there are far more realistic moments taken to find composure and bitter muted after thoughts that will set in motion years of regret. There is harrowing desperation on show, with the lead performance (Anamaria Marinca portraying Otilia) being one of the greatest I have ever been witness to. A dinner table scene in which she sits amongst her boyfriends family barely acknowledging their words and exchanges is subtly the most effective of the film. Running for quiet a few minutes, the heroines thoughts and so too the audiences are firmly back in the hotel room she just left, her eyes glazed yet hiding a storm of torment. Her performance is the best testament to the line ‘all the worlds a stage’ I can imagine. Escaping to bathrooms, stalling before knocking on doors she needs to take those moments to take stock and put on a necessary brave face, take initiative and feign lies all to be the safety net for her friend she has chosen to stand by.

The film is firstly bleak, it is 1980s Romania, the black market is not limited to the exchange of cigarettes and soap, death and sex are too commodities. On reflection, because the story will certainly not allow you think on this while watching, it is so too brilliantly filmed. I don’t know if there is a film makers term or if there has been analysis of the technique of having exchanges with characters who are off screen, but it works, somehow instilling the feelings of shame and uncertainty the characters may feel, not having you make eye contact with the characters. The film as a whole is one you cannot bare to watch yet can’t take your eyes away from. There are moments of atmospheric tension as Otilia rambles the streets gathering her thoughts and following through on her duties as well as some graphic shots that cannot but make you reflect on the moral questions the characters have had to forego giving thought to. This movie will stay with me, I cannot recall the last time a movie or any other work left me so despondent by something ultimately so brilliant. We talk of the power of movies, I know I do in praising or criticising a movie, I will have to reassess what that means.