The Romanian master is back with this Berlinale Best Screenplay winner as he continues his deeply unique reflection on human folly and irony, about a bailiff who feels extreme guilt after something devastating happens in her line of work.
Review #3,006
Dir. Radu Jude
2025 | Romania | Drama | 109min | 1.85:1 | Romanian, Hungarian & German
Not rated – likely to be NC16 for coarse language
Cast: Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanta, Oana Mardare, Serban Pavlu
Plot: Orsolya is a bailiff in Cluj, the main city in Transylvania. One day, she has to evict a homeless man from a cellar, an action with tragic consequences that triggers a moral crisis which Orsolya must weather as best she can.
Awards: Won Best Screenplay & Nom. for Golden Bear (Berlinale)
International Sales: Luxbox
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Moral Crisis; Extreme Guilt
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: General Arthouse
Viewed: Screener
Spoilers: No
Radu Jude is probably my favourite Romanian director of the last decade. What I love about him is that his works have the kind of edgy humour, sometimes satirical, at other times social commentary-like, that feels rare and fresh in this day and age of performative wokeism and cancel culture.
Kontinental ’25, which won Best Screenplay earlier this year at the Berlinale, may be considered ‘Jude-lite’ in comparison to, say, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) or Do Not Expect Too Much at the End of the World (2023)—two of the most brilliantly anarchic films you will see this decade—but he still has so much to say about the ghastly world we live in.
An old homeless man who has taken refuge in an empty building for some time is asked to vacate by the authorities, as the space will be converted into a brand-new luxury hotel.
Orsolya, the bailiff in charge of the case, becomes overwhelmed with extreme guilt after something devastating happens, and for much of Jude’s work, she finds every avenue to talk about it, to her Mom, close friend, an ex-student, etc.
“You are not to blame. You acted impeccably.”
As such, like many of the director’s films, Kontinental ’25 can be rather talky, but it is through these conversations (shot primarily in static long takes) that we begin to understand that our world operates by default on injustice, oppression and violence, rather than equity, compassion and empathy.
Perhaps that’s why, in an early scene, we see that old man rummaging around for useful material or leftover food in a public park with lifelike dinosaurs on automated display.
While one might see it as a visual, allegorical amplification of a dog-eat-dog world (in this case, a dino-eat-dino world), I see it additionally as a cheeky take on dangerously unchecked capitalism through its indirect association with both the narrativisation and franchising of the ‘Jurassic Park/World’ brand. This is an example of Jude as a remarkably intelligent artist in deep reflection on human folly and irony.
Orsolya, having to grapple with life’s eternal questions, must overcome the trauma of guilt. Some of us can move on easily, others not so. Jude has no real answers but only the abundance of astute observations as solace.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 