One Floor Below

Sandu Patrascu is an ordinary middle-aged man. A father to son, Matei, and a dog lover, he runs a car registration business with his wife, Olga. But Patrascu is in an unusual predicament. While returning from a walk with his dog, he overhears his downstairs neighbor, Laura, in a heated argument with Vali, another man in the building. Patrascu pauses at the door—perhaps to see if he should intercede—but Vali storms out of the apartment and threateningly stares at his eavesdropping neighbor. Still a little uneasy, Patrascu goes about his day, only to discover Laura had been murdered while he was at work. When the police question him, Patrascu inexplicably lies, claiming he has no knowledge of who might want to hurt Laura. Now Vali is showing up at Patrascu’s workplace and even in his home. Patrascu is clearly in over his head, increasingly consumed by the events that happened ONE FLOOR BELOW. (In Romanian with subtitles) –E.B.