Intregalde

Radu Muntean
2021
104 minutes

Description

In a gripping tale of best intentions gone wrong, leading Romanian filmmaker Radu Muntean (TUESDAY, AFTER CHRISTMAS) follows a trio of well-meaning aid workers from Bucharest on a food delivery mission to the rural hinterlands of the Întregalde area of Transylvania. Guided off the beaten path by an elderly villager looking for a local sawmill, they find themselves trapped in an unfamiliar, dangerous place and facing the outer limits of their goodwill for each other and for strangers. An inquiry into the contemporary humanitarian impulse that moves like a suspense thriller—but which never quite goes where you expect it to—Muntean’s film knowingly plays off and subverts conventions of both horror films and social realist drama.

Reviews

“Mesmerizing. Brilliant. A tense, gripping, darkly funny and ultimately compassionate movie. Has the spookiness of an old folk tale — and at times the deep, implacable shadows of a horror movie... [Muntean] is a master at building tension.” — Justin Chang, LA Times

“Critic’s Pick! A movie that, with humor, tenderness and flashes of filmmaking brilliance, looks at what happens when kindness is tested, masks are dropped and self-interest runs free.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times


“Subtle, Superb. A mordantly witty, keen-eyed, expertly performed delight. Uncannily gripping… contains its own perpetual motion machine of suspense and surprise. The ending just makes it beautiful too.” — Jessica Kiang, Variety