A landowner places his snow-bound manor house at the disposal of some friends: a politician, a young countess, and a Russian General and his wife. For the guests, time goes by slowly, with rich meals, society games and long talks about death and the Antichrist, progress and morality. As the discussion takes shape and the various topics are broached, the guests end up defending their own vision and exacerbating each other’s anxieties to the point that their conversation becomes sorely strained. Coming from New York Film Festival regular Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr Lăzărescu), this is cerebral cinema at its best, and a compelling history class that is all the more resonant in these heated times, despite being set in the 19th century.