Miracle

A searing psychological thriller, writer-director Bogdan George Apetri’s masterfully controlled and photographed (by Romanian New Wave stalwart Oleg Mutu) film weaves together social critique, moral ambiguity, and gripping investigative crime drama into one terrific package. Ioana Bugarin is perfect as Cristina, a young novice who departs her nunnery on a mysterious mission to a hospital. She does not make it back. Enter detective Marius Preda (the equally good Emanuel Pârvu), the cop tasked with getting to the bottom of what happened to her. Fasten your seatbelts because things get very tense, very fast…

‘A crime drama of absorbing authenticity… Miracle is staged with an inexorable skill that tugs you along like a Patricia Highsmith novel. It’s a tale of mystery, of scalded innocence, and of the staggering evil that ordinary men can do… As it closes in on its heart of darkness, [the film] creates a slow-burn suspense that won’t quit.’—Owen Gleiberman, Variety