5 min readMay 19, 2026 11:16 AM IST
When a bunch of kids are greeted by a school principal saying jovially, no Draculas here, you are meant to surmise a few things. That the children have a connection with Romania, and that this remote Norwegian town with a fjord on one side and mountains on the other, is a new experience for them.
Turns out that The Gheorghiu family, with a Romanian father and Norwegian mother, and their five children — two teenagers, two younger ones, and the fifth, a babe in arms, have relocated from Romania and come to live in Norway. Mihai (Sebastian Stan) is an IT expert, and Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) who works in medicine are here for fresh prospects and fresh air, both of which seems to be in ample supply in this snowy, windy place, which turns out to be not as welcoming, leaving the new entrants facing an uncertain future.
Mungiu, who won the Palme d’Or in 2007 for his harrowing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, is back in contention this year, with his lead pair almost unrecognizable from their previous excellent turns in ‘The Apprentice’ (2024) and ‘Sentimental Value’ (2025), both of which were in Cannes competition.
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In Fjord, the two are a deeply religious church-going couple whose old-fashioned values of parenting come under fire when a teacher spots a few bruises on the daughter’s face and shoulder. Child support services swing into action: the children, even the baby, is whisked away, the suddenness of it all leaving Mihai and Lisbet shell-shocked.
What follows next, as the couple gird for a battle in family court (and there could well be a criminal investigation once the civil courts are done with their work), with the children being farmed off to foster parents (the mother’s pumped milk being taken to the baby daily) is a tense human drama, which doesn’t take sides.
While the Norwegian authorities claim that the father’s actions — ‘swatting his children repeatedly on the butt’ — and how they are not allowed access to the internet or mobile phones, and are made to pray every day, is antithetical to their laws, the father feels that what he did was ‘not hitting’, and whatever he did, it was ‘for their own good’.
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The film may be new, but the battle — cultural, societal, political, religious ramifications — is as old as the hills. What is considered acceptable, even necessary, in some cultures (including Indian), is deemed inhuman: desi parents with a habit of clipping their offspring beneath their ear being called out may be highly offended, and all the kid-gloves scoffed at.
The argument is more nuanced than that. It could well have been that Mihai may have applied a little more force than he thought he did to that butt-slap; but the children seem to be none the worse for it; that they want to be reunited with their parents is never in any doubt. And the other thing is: that it will always be a contested space, what is too much, and what is not enough is a matter of individual perception as against group conviction. The Norwegians feel that the couple aren’t remorseful enough, the couple thinks that there was a massive overreaction from the authorities side, and while the two sides are willing to concede inches, the miles still remain
Some of the court-room scenes slacken the tension. And an all-too convenient climax suggests that there are no easy answers to any of the questions that Mungiu, who is a master of raising the thorny question of ethics and legality and morality and human desire, puts on the table here. What could be thornier than when children are the at the centre of the conflict, with the family unit up against the might of the state: what is right, and what is wrong, and who is to decide?
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Ultimately Fjord leaves too many open ends. But while it isn’t a masterly Mungui, it remains consistently watchable.
Fjord movie cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed (Mia), Ellen Petersen (Gunda), Lisa Loven Kongsli, Henrik Lund-Olsen (Noora), Vanessa Ceban as Elia
Fjord movie director: Cristian Mungiu
Fjord movie rating: 3 stars
