Two weeks before his release, a teenage prisoner learns that his mother has returned home. Meanwhile, he finds himself in love with a student working in the penitentiary as an intern.
Romanian writer/director Florin Serban’s taut debut offers a fresh spin on the prison-hostage drama.
The standoff that results, as Silviu finally decides to grab what he wants in life, proves as despairing as it is tense. Not for the first time, a Romanian film shows us an individual floundering within a system from which there can be no easy escape.
Serban’s film is as flawed as the bruised character at its centre, but almost as compelling too.
The tone, though not the style, brings to mind The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
This is Åžerban’s second feature, and even though it’s not quite all there, we very much look forward to his third.
Serban’s intelligent understanding of psychology and talent for aesthetically engrossing drama suggests his future will hold a long and distinguished career.
Florin Serban
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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