Miracle (2022)

Bogdan George Apetri’s Miracle tells two stories, the first much more engrossing than the second, and then arrives at an ending that I am still not able to piece together.  All together this is never an uninteresting film, but when you try and piece it back together in your mind afterwards, you may have some problems with it.  Your experience may vary.

The first story is all about a young novice nun who runs away from her monastery for reasons that we only discover later.  For a good while, we follow this woman named Cristine (Ioana Bugarin) as she goes about her prepared route to get away from the order.  Her journey is shot mostly in close-up and mid-shots as she moves through her mission with a mixture of focus and fear.  What could she be hiding?

On her journey, she will meet three men, one a cab driver, another a businessman who questions why she would ever choose to be a nun in the first place, and third, a pleasant driver who will alter the course of her destiny and lead us into the second act.  In between the businessman and the driver, she visits a hospital where we understand exactly why she is running away – or do we?  I realize that I am being cryptic but this is the kind of film with developments that you don’t want to spoil, so with that . . . 

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT 

A crime is committed against this woman in a scene that is filmed in a way that is both merciful and unsettling.  As she fights for her life, the camera circles around the wooded area where we see nothing but hear everything.  Afterwards, we begin following a detective named Marius (Emanuel Parvu) whose investigative methods are bullish, unorthodox and patently illegal.  He knows who committed the crime, wants the man who did it, and is willing to do anything to bring him down.

Actually, the second story takes up most of the running time and it’s where I started to get frustrated.  The narrative, I think, moves in and out of fantasy sequences that may or may not have happened.  Marius gets his man – or does he?  Cristiana survives her attack – or does she?  The ending is one of the most confusing that I can remember.  Others may understand exactly what is happening and how it ties in with the film’s title, but I was left scratching my head.  As I said, your experience may vary, but I was not left entirely sure what I had just seen.  I leave Miracle with a middling rating, at least until I can sort it out.