‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’

Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s stark, chilling story about two friends trying to procure an illegal abortion, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” unfolds in the late 1980s, as Communist rule in Romania is about to come to an end. Over the course of a couple of days, the movie takes a pair of college roommates through a harrowing experience made even more perilous by their palpably curtailed freedom. The young women encounter petty, casual cruelty everywhere. But what saves the movie from utter bleakness is Otilia’s (Anamaria Marinca) spirit and courage in helping her passive, helpless friend Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) out of an impossible situation.