Monster. (2019)

Directed by: Marius Olteanu | 116 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Judith State, Cristian Popa, Alexandru Potocean, Serban Pavlu, Dorina Lazar, Gabriel Rauta, Alina Berzunteanu, Alina Tarba, Rolando Matsangos

The Romanian film ‘Monstri’ is about the couple Dana and Arthur. In a drama divided into three chapters, set over 24 hours, we first get to know Dana, then Arthur and finally we see that they belong together and we learn about the state of their marriage.

Dana (Judith State) arrives at a station in Bucharest in the evening after a long journey. She is upset about something as we see her washing away her tears in a public toilet. The taxi she then orders becomes her refuge for the night. She has doubts about her destiny, a doubt that is fed by a telephone conversation. Does she go home or does the taxi and its driver feel safer?

Arthur (Cristian Popa) has had a tough workout and is wandering lonely through the city. He regularly checks his phone and finally dates an older man for uncomfortable and unsatisfying sex. The conversation the two have raises more question marks than clarity: have the two known each other longer? Could the anecdote the older man tell be about Arthur and his lover?

In the third chapter – unlike the first two, not shot in 1:1, but in widescreen – we see Dana and Arthur together, at home. The events of the previous night are not discussed, but the consequences are in the air. The couple returns to business as usual: attending a baptism and visiting Arthur’s grandmother. Arthur and Dana actually manage to maintain the appearance of a happy marriage to the outside world. After all the obligations, the couple finds some time for each other. As a viewer, you hope to gain more insight into how it came to this, where did it go wrong for this couple and what do they really want? But even there it does not come to a definitive answer.

The acting in ‘Monstri.’ is without a doubt the strongest part of this Romanian drama. Both Judith State and Cristian Popa know how to indicate their misery with subtle movements. These are two people with intense emotional problems. They also have a pleasant chemistry together: not as young lovers who can’t keep their hands off each other, but of a man and a woman who know each other through and through, and love each other despite that. Even if that’s not enough.