Cannes 2026: Fjord
Cristian Mungiu returns with a thorny look at life in a small Norwegian hamlet, headed by fantastic performances by Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve
With films like 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and R.M.N., Cristian Mungiu is a modern master of the austere – so perhaps a move to a place as cold as Norway shouldn’t come as a surprise for the Romanian auteur. An icy coastal town proves to be the perfect setting for this thorny probe into the cultural conflicts of society: Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbet Gheorghiu (Renate Reinsve) have just moved from Bucharest to the latter’s home country. Their Christian family of seven are seemingly well settled in their small, tight-knit neighbourhood; that is, until the eldest children admit at school to receiving a light spanking whenever they misbehave.
That transgression against Norway’s progressive values prompts child services to investigate Mihai and Lisbet for child abuse. Mungiu’s intelligent, ambiguous film avoids easy judgement and forces us to bump up against our own prejudices. The Gheorghius enforce a strict way of living with daily prayer, no internet, and zero dancing, and as the couple risk the unusually harsh punishment of jail time, it becomes apparent that it’s not only the accused physical punishment that’s on trial, but their conservative evangelism. Fjord doesn’t ask you to choose a side so much as it observes the morally fraught terrain when contrasting ideals come crashing together like encroaching tectonic plates.
Stan and Reinsve are outstanding, both acting in three languages and delivering emotionally reserved performances that reflect the film’s unforgiving, suffocating atmosphere. In this chilling Norwegian hamlet, the occasional avalanche is just a part of the rhythms of life – but Fjord is more occupied with another unavoidable storm, and with Mungiu’s usual insightful touch, it considers whether it can ever be resolved.
Fjord will be released in the UK via Picturehouse Entertainment