Ella Skye Heisel | Staff Illustrator

Just as a night of students studying at Olin Library seems nondescript to an outsider, the gentle atmosphere in writer-director Cristian Mungiu’s stunning new film “Fjord” is a ruse hiding the slowly-building heat and intensity that climaxes in an emotional and uncomfortable yet riveting peak. When a father calmly states that his children “can be cheerful when they’re grown-ups,” is he admitting to beating them or merely describing the stress of having to live in an overcrowded home in the frozen mountains of Norway?

The film stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu respectively, parents of five who are accused of child abuse after bringing their family to Norway from Romania. But “Fjord” offers no dramatic conflict scene or simplistic, satisfying answer. Instead, it keeps the viewer at an (un)comfortable distance, ever uncertain of the truth. Nothing is safe from Mungiu’s punishing script that sows discord at every step, languishing in the doubts of the in-between. Throughout, he questions everything, from the strictly secular Child Protection Services to the way in which the Gheorghiu’s small politically-liberal town instantly turns on them.

In doing so, “Fjord” rises from a bland, simple story to a layered, dense, and consistently uncomfortable work.

“Fjord” is not just about the parents, but about their children, too. For them, the story is no legal drama but a tale of found friends and perhaps more between Elia Gheorghiu (Vanessa Ceban) and Noora (Henrikke Lund Olsen), a girl living next door. Olsen is fascinating as Noora, portraying all of the yearning isolationism of a small-town kid alongside a burning desire to be liked. Reinsve’s performance as Lisbet also stands out, playing a reedy, introspective woman utterly distinct from her recent roles in “Backrooms” and “Sentimental Value.”

“Fjord” demands a higher level of focus and an inquisitive eye from its audience, not only trained on the slowly-unraveling plot and subtly-charged gazes, but ultimately beyond the strict Norwegian government to the viewer themselves.