--- title: "Beyond the Hills: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/beyond-the-hills/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/beyond-the-hills" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 15 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Beyond the Hills (2012): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 15 reviews: 14 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Beyond the Hills, praising Mungiu’s patient direction and the emotional force of the bond between its two central women. The long takes earn repeated praise for drawing attention to behaviour and building tension without forcing a judgement. The performances are another point of agreement, as is the film’s refusal to reduce its conflicts over faith, love and secular responsibility to a simple case against religion. Its restraint makes the suffering more affecting for many critics. Reservations centre on the length, deliberate pace and repetition in the middle section, including among otherwise favourable reviews. The spread is largely positive, though enthusiasm ranges from admiration for a demanding drama to a stronger emotional response. Paste supplies the clearest dissent: it finds the pacing tedious and the ambiguity frustrating, where other reviews see moral complexity and a welcome reluctance to preach. ## Sight and Sound — Nick Roddick Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2013. The critic praises Mungiu's measured and powerful monastery drama as a complex work championing love while questioning religion's appropriation of it. The film's restraint and final shot are singled out for their eloquence and skill. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-beyond-hills) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 March 2013. The critic calls the film a tough and engrossing work of realism with the shadowy magic of an ancient folk tale. He singles out the intense longing of the two central women for a situation in which their love might thrive as giving the story its suspense and devastating power. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/movies/beyond-the-hills-directed-by-cristian-mungiu.html) ## The Guardian — Philip French Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 17 March 2013. Philip French praises Mungiu's film as a powerful and sombre meditation on faith and friendship in present-day Romania. He singles out the morally adroit portrayal of the difficult protagonist Alina as particularly compelling. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/mar/17/beyond-the-hills-review) ## Evening Standard — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2013. The film has power and intensity, is beautifully acted and directed with precision, and is engrossing despite its length and slow pace. It presents a true story of tragedy in a convent without preaching, focusing on trapped emotions and circumstances. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/beyond-the-hills-film-review-8535741.html) ## Little White Lies — Anton Bitel Rating 4/4/4. 14 March 2013. The film unfolds its moral dilemmas with disquieting evenhandedness in an understated passion play. It is praised for its searing love story and even-handed portrayal of conflicts between sacred and secular values. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/beyond-the-hills/) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 4/5. 12 March 2013. Mungiu's cerebral melodrama is steely and brutal in its portrait of religion's lethal potential in the wrong hands. The film's elongated style and exploration of freedom and Romanian society's lingering sorrow are highlighted. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/beyond-the-hills) ## Film Comment — Joumane Chahine Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 July 2012. Festival review. The critic finds the film perplexing and not easy to like, with its deliberate pace and demanding material, yet praises how it renders the story fascinating and engaging through moral uncertainty. The rigorous, ascetically masterful execution in long takes is singled out amid its exploration of faith, love, and organized religion. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/festivals-cannes-2012-beyond-the-hills-mungiu-review/) ## IndieWire — Beth Hanna Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2013. The critic describes the film as a brilliant slow burn to hell that maintains Mungiu's naturalistic style. It highlights the tension built through the monastic setting and the performances of the leads. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-cristian-mungius-beyond-the-hills-a-brilliant-slow-burn-to-hell-199112/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2012. Festival review. Mungiu's spare, unadorned and strikingly shot film renders a Romanian exorcism case in an unusual way that will split opinions. It is praised for its attention to details and balanced treatment of characters who all believe they are right. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/beyond-the-hills/5042221.article) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Stephen Dalton Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2012. Festival review. The critic finds the film an austere, serious-minded psychodrama that lacks the bite of Mungiu's previous work but confirms his maturing talent with universal stories. It singles out the director's non-judgmental distance and the lead performance of Cosmina Stratan for praise while noting the slow, repetitive midsection as a drawback. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/beyond-hills-cannes-festival-review-326819/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2013. The critic praises Mungiu’s patient mastery of the long take and his ability to draw viewers into the passionate souls of the characters. He singles out the film’s refusal to deliver an easy broadside against religious fervor, instead registering a tug of war between old piety and the new rational world. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/11/mad-about-you) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 18 May 2012. Festival review. The review calls it a powerful, slow-burn drama exploring faith and love as poisons, praising the complex emotional center and long takes, though noting it may lose some viewers due to pace and ambiguity. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-faith-love-collide-in-cristian-mungius-powerful-beyond-the-hills-20120518/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 September 2012. The critic describes it as an important exploration into indifference and the nature of faith and relationships, praising the performances and Mungiu's style of long shots that reveal social truths without exploitation. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/beyond-the-hills-2012-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## HeyUGuys — Jamie Neish Rating 4/5. 15 October 2012. Festival review. The critic praises the film's examination of the bond between two women and the repercussions of faith, highlighting the long takes and performances, but notes some arduous filler in the middle act. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/lff-2012-beyond-the-hills-review/) ## Paste — Annlee Ellingson Rating 7.2. 5 March 2013. The critic describes the film as methodical and meditative in its long-take approach to a sensational true story, but notes that the deliberate pacing can feel repetitive and tedious. It ends on an infuriatingly ambiguous note after building sympathy for all involved. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/beyond-the-hills) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/beyond-the-hills.md