Beyond the Hills

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  • Opened March 8, 2013 (Limited)
  • 2 hr 30 min
  • NR
  • In an isolated Orthodox convent in Romania, Alina (Cristina Flutur) has been reunited with her childhood friend Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) after spending several years in Germany. Alina wants to leave and go to back Germany, and wants Voichita, a novice nun, to go with her. But Voichita has found refuge in faith and a family in the nuns and their priest (Valeriu Andriuta) and refuses. When Alina challenges the priest in an attempt to win back Voichita’s affection, she is suspected of being possessed. Mungiu based his gripping drama on a case of alleged demonic possession that occurred in a Romanian monastery in 2005.
    *Note: In Romanian with English subtitles. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga
  • Director: Cristian Mungiu
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama

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Critics say Go
79 out of 100
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Fan Reviews

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VERY TOUGH BUT EXCELLENT FILM FROM ROMANIA, REVOLVING AROUND A VERY CONSERVATIVE APPROACH TO RELIGION!

by Peneflix

A challenging, morose, metaphysical, metaphorical film by Christian Mungiu (?4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days?); not for those looking for fluff or fantasy... Based on an historical event in Romania...

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by larisals

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Critic Reviews

88
Chicago Tribune
| Michael Phillips

Of all the movies culminating in a rite of exorcism, Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu's remarkable Beyond the Hills stands alone. Read full review

88
Boston Globe
| Ty Burr

It’s a deceptively impersonal style, because Beyond the Hills seethes with astonishment and rage at a broken society marooned between the 21st century and the 16th. Read full review

88
Chicago Sun-Times
|

Beyond the Hills is an arthouse film from Romania, yet, in its slow, lurching progress toward a tragic exorcism, it is a stylistic nephew of America's "The Exorcist." Read full review

80
Wall Street Journal
| Joe Morgenstern

It's tempting to see Beyond the Hills solely as an indictment of religion, but the film is more ambitious than that. Ignorance and superstition aren't confined to the convent; people in town, including the cops, drop casual references to witchcraft as if it were part of everyday life. The broader subject is possession by primitive ideas. Read full review

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Photos

A scene from "Beyond the Hills."