Writer-Director Cristian Mungiu paints a bleak picture of life under the Ceausescu regime. With abortion outlawed, getting one involves clandestine and medically dangerous arrangements. The film opens at a university, and it takes a while before we learn what is developing. Anamaria Marinca as Otilia has undertaken to help her roommate Laura Vasiliu as Gabita terminate an advanced pregnancy. The grim task involves booking a hotel room for the secret procedure, and dealing with a callous, money-grubbing abortionist, played convincingly by Vlad Ivanov.

Marinca and Vasiliu give strong performances as they navigate the underground. The horror of the search and the dangers involved are presented harrowingly, and the characters of both women are explored. There is the added interest in Otilia having second thoughts about the relationship with her boyfriend because she finds him revealingly insensitive to the situation. The story becomes as much about Otilia's awakening as it does about the grim problem at hand.