R.M.N.

Cristian Mungiu’s tragicomic examination of EU economics, refugees, and Christmas delivers both as blistering social commentary and an unsparing portrait of community groupthink.

RMN is the Romanian acronym for “nuclear magnetic resonance” and, sure enough, modern master Cristian Mungiu’s urgent, fiercely intelligent migration drama doubles as a laser-enhanced dissection of European hypocrisies and contradictions.

Though Mungiu takes a heavy hand with the symbolism, particularly in a head-scratcher of a final moment, his main characters remain irreducible in the face of a conflict that’s seemingly cut-and-dried.

The European project takes a hefty pummelling in this beautiful yet unrelentingly harsh drama from the Romanian film-maker Cristian Mungiu (Graduation).

This measured, contemplative approach works supremely well, gradually tightening its grip as the tensions in the community mount.

What Mr. Mungiu puts together, in tandem with the ornate private lives of several main characters, is an anatomy of race hatred.

The closest a movie has come to replicating that feeling of being an unwanton and unmoveable observer in a dark, monstrously racist alt-right space.

Mungiu, with a sociopolitical view, offers a sober diagnosis of intolerance, immigration and the strong xenophobia of a Romanian society closed in on itself as a horde at the service of national identity. [Full review in Spanish]

Has a dry sense of humor that turns this dark tale into a kind of cautionary satire, an incisive mockery of small town politics and nationalist fervor.

With a shaky camera that adds tension to the events that are built up, this film makes the viewer empathize with the characters and, at the same time, not wanting to do so because of the universe that this implies entering. [Full review in Spanish]