Alice T.

We first meet Alice, the title character in Radu Muntean’s ALICE T., a bracing counterpart to Cristian Mungiu’s 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (2007), inside a gym, her vibrantly colored hair matched by her red jumper. Alice is a high school rebel: strong-willed, at times foul-mouthed, popular but also combative and manipulative. Muntean poignantly captures the understated, slice-of-life frictions in Alice’s social-media-driven teenage milieu, while the drama revolves around Alice’s pregnancy. The prospect of keeping the baby becomes a high contention point, a way to seek love and support from her mother and teachers. Meanwhile, Alice buys the abortion pills, advised mainly by online forums, and, in between watching television, bleeds in her friend’s bathtub. Muntean captures the scene with all its startling horror: Alice’s flippancy, putting on a brave face, yet also seeking a place to be sheltered, trying to escape the isolating trauma, without the benefit of doctors, family, or counselors. It is only when Alice is back for another sonogram, which can only confirm what she already knows, that the recognition of her willfulness, the web of lies and her own fragility finally sink in. (Ela Bittencourt)

In the presence of Radu Muntean.