R.M.N.

From the writer/director of acclaimed Romanian New Wave fare “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and “Graduation” comes this unflinching, Palme d’Or-nominated social thriller about an unemployed man who returns to rural Transylvanian only to become embroiled in a xenophobic controversy at the village’s bread factory. —M.G.Master filmmaker Cristian Mungiu returns with another searing social commentary with R.M.N., set in a small Transylvanian town. Csilla manages a factory bakery in the community, hiring workers from Sri Lanka to receive EU support when local workers seek better pay in other countries. One of them, her lover Matthias, returns to the village over the Christmas holiday to find his young son terrified into silence by a moment in the woods. Once known for shepherding diverse ethnic backgrounds, the town unleashes its no longer dormant racist outrage at the presence of the new employees. Making an unpredictable thriller out of modern societal ills, Mungiu digs for the root of the nationalism and racism taking hold of communities throughout Europe, delivering a film rich with symbolism and disquieting observations about the corrosive nature of societal fear. —C.F.Content Warning: This film contains material that may be difficult for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.