Cristian Mungiu is gearing up to unveil his next film, and it’s already turned into one of 2026’s most anticipated international releases.
The Romanian director, best known for his Palme d’Or-winning “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” wrapped production late last year, in Norway, on “Fjord,” which stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. Neon picked up the film for North American distribution. It will play Cannes competition next month. The film’s runtime is rumored to be 2 hours 26 minutes.
We now have some first-look images from Fjord showing a balding Sebastian Stan in a striking transformation — he looks almost unrecognizable. The actor underwent a noticeable shift in appearance through makeup and prosthetics, designed to make him appear “more ordinary” and less immediately identifiable. Here’s hoping Stan is a fitting addition to the Mungiu-verse.
“Fjord” centers on a Romanian-Norwegian family that moves to a small, remote village in Norway, where they try to build a new life and integrate into the local community. Over time, tensions develop between them and a neighboring family, and what begins as everyday coexistence gradually turns into suspicion and escalating conflict.
The story, based on real events, marks a significant shift for Mungiu, whose previous films have almost exclusively taken place in Romania. The Norwegian setting, combined with an international cast, signals a move toward broader themes and a multilingual—or English-language—production.
“It’s half a joke, but it’s true, [Stan] speaks a little bit of Romanian in the film, but he also speaks a lot of English, and it’s mostly a mixture of English and Norwegian with a little spice of Romanian every now and then,” Mungiu told Deadline.
For Mungiu, “Fjord” will mark his sixth feature, extending a career that has firmly established him as one of the most important voices in modern European cinema, with acclaimed works such as “Beyond the Hills,” “Graduation,” and “R.M.N.”
