Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #21. Cristi Puiu’s MMXX

MMXX

With lengthy time between film projects it always feels like an event film when there is a new Cristi Puiu in the works. Best known for 2005’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, and more recently Malmkrog (2020), the pandemic was good to the Romanian filmmaker as he has had MMXX in post since mid 2022. The dramedy clocks in around the three hour mark and is produced by Mandragora.

Gist: Oana Pfifer, a young therapist visibly distracted by some unknown reasons, is slipping little by little inside the net of the questionnaire she is supposed to submit to her patient. Mihai Dumitru, Oana’s younger brother, worrying about the preparations of his anniversary and not realizing how inappropriate his demands are, is stuck in a story far bigger than what he can handle. Septimiu Pfifer, Oana’s husband, concerned about his health regarding a possible Covid-19 contamination, is vaguely listening to a strange story his ambulance colleague was caught inside long ago, while waiting for the next emergency call. Narcis Patranescu, an organized crime inspector, perturbed by the recent death of one of his colleagues, is on the grip of an unsettling dark story while interrogating a young woman during a funeral. Four short moments in time that are capturing the wanderings of a bunch of errant souls stuck at the crossroads of history.

Release Date/Prediction: We think this will be a competition film in at the Berlinale.