
Alina and Voichita have been friends since their orphanage days. And they have been lovers since they became sexually mature. But despite their oath of mutual fidelity, Alina, who could not bear poverty any more, emigrated to Germany where she became a barmaid. Now she just could not take the estrangement from Voichita and today she is back to Romania with a view to taking Voichita along with her to Germany. The only trouble is that in the meantime her girlfriend has betrayed... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Links compiled using automated software. Availability of offers subject to change / might be region specific / out of date.
Alina and Voichita have been friends since their orphanage days. And they have been lovers since they became sexually mature. But despite their oath of mutual fidelity, Alina, who could not bear poverty any more, emigrated to Germany where she became a barmaid. Now she just could not take the estrangement from Voichita and today she is back to Romania with a view to taking Voichita along with her to Germany. The only trouble is that in the meantime her girlfriend has betrayed her in falling in love with... God! Voichita indeed now lives in a convent where she plans to make vows. The priest agrees, if somewhat reluctantly, to accommodate Alina before their (hypothetical) departure. He sees all too well that not only is the young woman materialistic but hostile and troublesome as well...
Leave your thoughts about Beyond the Hills.
| Irish TimesTara BradyMungiu's human comedy leaves off where it begins (spoiler alert): out in the middle of nowhere, no direction home. |
| Spirituality and PracticeFrederic and Mary Ann BrussatAn engrossing psychological drama about what happens in a monastery when the zealousness of faith leads to suffering and separation rather than healing and wholeness. |
| Financial TimesNigel AndrewsThe film's final shot goes straight to the story's heart and the spectator's. Amazing grace. Now at last we know what those words mean. |
| MetroActiveRichard von BusackWhen the ill and unstable Alina returns to the monastery, just so she can be with her beloved, Beyond the Hills becomes a species of those exorcism movies that audiences gorge on, only done with a realism and ambiguity usually missing from the genre. |
| Film Freak CentralWalter ChawIt's an exorcism movie for everyone who thought, after Mungiu's gruelling abortion buddy-movie 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, that this guy should do an exorcism movie |
| CompuserveHarvey S. KartenOverlong and bleak while featuring superb ensemble acting, this Romanian Oscar entry employs careful attention to detail to depict life in a remote chapel as perhaps a stand-in for the greater society. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesSteven BooneBeyond the Hills is an arthouse film from Romania, yet, in its slow, lurching progress toward a tragic exorcism, it is a stylistic nephew of America's "The Exorcist." |
| Slant MagazineNick SchagerIt's Cristian Mungiu's staging and compositional skill that lends the material its true sense of dawning dread. |
| Newark Star-LedgerStephen WhittyMingiu used to be a journalist, and "Beyond the Hills" has the feel of real-life to it - no soaring soundtrack music, a cast full of everyday faces. |
| New York PostFarran Smith NehmeWhat this means is that at times the pace of Beyond the Hills is nerve-wrackingly slow. But Mungiu has his own way of creating suspense, and he has a gift for making a known outcome as shocking as a twist. |