4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

I knew this movie was going to be both brilliant and tough. I was unprepared. It follows 24 hours in the lives of two friends in mid-1980s Romania, Behind-the-Curtain; Otilia and her roommate Gabita, who needs an illegal abortion.
On the DVD the director/writer says the story is about solidarity between the women, but I was struck how the students are raped, literally and metaphorically, repeatedly throughout the day by just about everyone with whom they interact. They pay price after price for small mistakes, little lies they make to survive. Yes, the film shows the fetus on the bathroom floor. But see how Otilia scoops it up in her purse, runs through the dark streets of Bucharest to get rid of it, knowing what’s pressed up against her, oh my god, knowing that she could be in exactly the same place, that her boyfriend wouldn’t be there either. These women want to escape the entire fate of motherhood because they see no reward in it.
Please see this movie.