Cannes 2026: Fjord Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Following his Palme d’Or win for Fjord, Cristian Mungiu joins an elite group of multi-time winners that includes Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, Ruben Östlund, and the Dardenne brothers – after previously winning for ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’ in 2007. Mungiu succeeds his gripping 2022 Romanian-set drama ‘R.M.N.’ with a thoughtful legal thriller that challenges the ideals of differing cultures, enhanced by captivating Academy Award nominees Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve to showcase this array of distinct worlds. The film follows the Gheorghiu family, including Romanian father Mihai (Stan) and Norwegian mother Lisbet (Reinsve), who move to a remote Norwegian village after living in Romania for many years. While settling into their new life, the parents are investigated for the treatment of their children, and must navigate the legal ramifications and scrutiny of the judicial system.

Mungiu’s efforts in broadening his narrative writing on an international scale results in an attentive portrayal of this culture clash – equally balancing the use of the Norwegian, Romanian, and English to highlight this impartial stance on these differing values, with Stan, in particular, showcasing his proficiency in the Romanian language. Mungiu delicately unravels the cultural divide while the family embraces their new life, when exposing their traditional and religious values to this new community leads to some underlying unease in this village’s secular beliefs. The Gheorghiu children easily make new friends, providing that initial acceptance that makes this family and audiences comfortable. That coziness quickly fades as such differences begin to uncover the latent prejudices found in the Norwegian citizens throughout the film. 

When their daughter Elia (Vanessa Ceban) comes to school with bruises, child protection services are quick to investigate and take the children away from Mihai and Lisbet. Mungiu emphasizes the precaution behind such procedures – becoming one of many topics of discussion that will leave audiences in moral debate, as the parents are heartbroken at having their children swiftly taken away from them. Enriched by the evocative performances of Stan and Reinsve, the Gheorghius exhaust every possible effort through the legal system to get their children back. Mungiu utilizes Tudor Vladimir Panduru’s cinematography – having previously collaborated together on ‘R.M.N.’ and ‘Graduation’ – to patiently unveil the social horror behind this legal drama, employing the use of Norway’s stunning landscapes to give audiences a false sense of comfort for those unfamiliar with Mungiu’s work. Such illusion of safety is exemplified through the incorporation of the breathtaking fjords with the risk of avalanches lurking around the corner.

As Fjord culminates in the Gheorghius’ dreadful but imminent courtroom battle, Mungiu fully illustrates the film’s unbiased stance on the subject of parental discipline, as he equitably depicts the arguments and flaws of both parties – as the family’s traditional ideologies begin to unfold through the trial and the village’s ulterior motives about the family’s beliefs affect the real justice behind the protection of the children. He leaves much of their parental discretion up to interpretation, leaving audiences unknowing to what they should feel. Once again, Panduru’s camera work steadily prolongs such crucial and grounded interrogation to intensify the heaviness behind our indecisive thoughts towards these sensitive subjects.

While inevitable criticism may fall upon Fjord for its lack of commitment towards supporting one viewpoint or the other, Mungiu should be commended for properly reflecting the subjective nature of such sensitive cases and that there is never a clear position to draw from.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Costa Christoulas

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