One Floor Below

Romanian director Radu Muntean (The Paper Will Be Blue) offers a provocative meditation on privacy and social responsibility in this restrained thriller. Sandu Patrascu (expertly played by Teodor Corban) is a family man who witnesses a domestic quarrel in his apartment block. His response drives the dramatic tension of the film, creating doubt and ambiguity. Sandu is at odds with his own conscience and with the other principal characters. Muntean’s handling of seemingly mundane details, at home and at work, heightens the drama and stands as an oblique comment on societal distrust of authority in post-Ceaușescu Romania.