Dr. Romeo Aldea, a well-respected Romanian surgeon, thinks of himself as a good man in a corrupt society, and hopes to pass on his values to his 18-year-old daughter, whom he hopes will get a scholarship to study in England and escape her stagnant homeland. But first she must pass her finals, and on the eve of the test she's assaulted and nearly raped.  The good doctor will do anything to ensure his daughter's success, and so he begins to grease the system, indulging in the very corruption he opposes, and asking her to play along.

This is the start of Cristian Mungiu's dazzling, suspenseful moral thriller, a movie of  secrets, lies and compromise that is both a nuanced portrait of a man in crisis and a devastating social critique. The director of the award-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days once again proves himself a giant of the new Romanian cinema.

"A masterly, complex movie of psychological subtlety and moral weight about the shabby choices people make as they claw their way up." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Winner: Best Director, Cannes; Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Chicago