Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s film 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days is a stark and dark look at life in 1980s communist-controlled Romania, a look more chilling than any horror film, as it is rooted in the cold reality that these were the circumstances that an entire nation lived under.

Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), a young woman in her early 20s, finds herself pregnant and unsure of what to do. She turns to her friend and roommate Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help. As abortion is illegal in 1980s Romania, Otilia arranges for the illegal procedure to be done at a local hotel and raises the money needed to pay for everything. Gabita, for her part, constantly endangers the girls by not following the abortionist’s directions for their clandestine meetings. Finally, the three meet at a hotel for Gabita’s procedure and while things seem to go right at first, complications arise, forcing Otilia into drastic actions that test her friendship with Gabita.

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