Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills Is Amazing, Intelligent, Depressing As Hell

Beyond the Hills is a dreary, depressing, dismal film. It's also a brilliant film, though you don't really realize how brilliant until the end.

The film starts with Alina (Cristina Flutur) visiting her best friend Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), who moved from the orphanage they both grew up in to a convent run by the somewhat ominous Mama and Papa. Alina tries to convince Voichita to leave the convent with her; when she refuses, Alina elects to stay despite her minimal religious faith and problems with authority.