Graduation

Romeo Aldea is a doctor in a small Transylvanian town whose life revolves around one goal: sending his eighteen-year-old daughter Eliza abroad to study in Britain. She has won a scholarship and needs only to pass her final exams, which should be a formality for such a strong student. The day before her written examinations, Eliza is attacked in the street, and her departure is suddenly thrown into doubt. Faced with a situation that could derail everything he has worked for, Romeo chooses among solutions that each require him to set aside the principles he raised his daughter on.

Cristian Mungiu wrote, directed and produced the film, his third feature after 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Beyond the Hills, and the film that precedes R.M.N. and Fjord in his filmography. Adrian Titieni plays Romeo, with Maria Dragus as Eliza, Lia Bugnar as Magda, Vlad Ivanov as the chief inspector, Emanuel Pârvu and Lucian Ifrim among a credited cast of twenty-five. The production, a Belgian, Romanian and French co-production, was made for about 2 million USD and returned roughly the same amount at the worldwide box office.

Audience response on TMDB, where the film holds 6.8 out of 10 from 316 votes, is more reserved than the critical one: a critics' rating of 8.2 out of 10 from 140 reviews places the film considerably higher with reviewers.