In just over a week, the Oscars will be over and we'll put 2012 to bed and start focusing on 2013. And while they probably won't get nominated for Oscars, we're willing to bet that Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan will deliver some of the best performances you'll see all year in "Beyond The Hills" (and indeed, they both shared an acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year). The latest trailer for Cristian Mungiu's film has arrived, and it's a powerful piece of work.
The story centers on Alina (Flutur) and Voichita (Stratan), who both grew up in an orphange together and have a relationship that's a bit more than friends. Their paths eventually separate, and when Alina comes to take Voichita out of a strictly orthodox religious compound where she now lives, they both wind up facing forces bigger than they expected. All of Mungiu's trademark techniques are here, including a wickedly slow burn pace and long takes, but it's a devastating piece of work touching on faith in all its complexity, subtly and near profoundly. As we wrote in our review out of Cannes, it's a movie where "love and faith are both different kinds of poison."
"Beyond The Hills" opens in limited release on March 8th, and you should definitely track it down. Watch below. [The Film Stage]