Aferim!

Play trailer

1:50

Aferim!

Released Jan 22, 2016

1h 45m

History

Drama

Western

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

98%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

After a slave escapes from his master's estate, a local policeman is hired to find him, resulting in a journey full of adventures.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Smart, visually arresting, and scathingly funny, Aferim! depicts a world that many American filmgoers have never seen -- but will still, in many respects, find utterly familiar.

Read Critics Reviews

Peter Keough

Boston Globe

The tone is Rabelaisian and earthily comic in the minimalist, picturesque squalor of the settings.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 7, 2016

Full Review

Leah Pickett

Chicago Reader

With a title that translates roughly as Attaboy!, this engaging and percipient period comedy focuses on the enslavement of the Roma people in 19th-century Romania.

May 26, 2016

Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

Somehow director Radu Jude's decision to film in black-and-white only heightens that sense of reality: It's as if the film is some ancient newsreel.

Rated: B

Mar 28, 2016

Full Review

Scott Nye

Battleship Pretension

As such, the title - at once jolly and sharply condemning - is a perfect reflection of the tone of the film, which uses its sharp wit and laughs like a knife.

Jan 7, 2021

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Eccentric, absurd, and ultimately a brutal portrait of late-Feudal Europe, Aferim! is a deservingly lauded calling card for Radu Jude in his increasingly formidable filmography.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 30, 2020

Full Review

Steve Erickson

Brooklyn Magazine

Yet another film about how superior we are to those awful racists from the 19th-century.

Jun 28, 2016

Full Review

Read all reviews

Alec B

What the movie understands is that the past, no matter how unpleasant, must always be depicted honestly. Also, I like the focus here which is directed squarely on everyday people and their prejudices.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/24

Full Review

vraf f

One of the most powerful Romanian movies of the 21st century.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What the movie understands is that the past, no matter how unpleasant, must always be depicted honestly. Also, I like the focus here which is directed squarely on everyday people and their prejudices.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

david l

Clearly inspired by Kurosawa and the western genre, Aferim! is yet another gem of Romanian cinema that is truly an epic spectacle. This brutal, but essential film offers a heartbreaking, realistic look into the slavery of Roma people during the nineteenth century in Romania. The black-and-white photography is crisp and beautiful, the acting is superb, the direction is marvelous and the dialogue is sophisticated and often quite funny. Although the pacing could have been better, everything else is outstanding in this highly accomplished period piece.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

nefasto r

"Aferim!" is an historical drama that deserve attention from the beginning to the end. It is a minimalist film, and because of that so many things pop up clearly: the poetic visuals, the bittersweet sadness, the long list of memorable quotes. A western with heart and soul.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Really long and boring

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Radu Jude

Director

Teo Corban

Costandin

Mihai Comanoiu

Ionita

Toma Cuzin

Carfin Pandolean

Alexandru Dabija

Iordache Cindescu

Luminita Gheorghiu

Actor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Woman Walks Ahead

59%

62%

Woman Walks Ahead

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Woman Walks Ahead

Le retour du héros

80%

71%

Le retour du héros

Watchlist

Delicious

100%

93%

Delicious

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Delicious

Hostiles

71%

76%

Hostiles

Watchlist

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

51%

70%

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

On DVD This Week: Kung Fu Panda 3, Eye in the Sky, and More

The 5th Wave Wipes Out

Aferim!: Trailer 1

1:50

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

After a slave escapes from his master's estate, a local policeman is hired to find him, resulting in a journey full of adventures.

Director: Radu Jude
Producer: Ada Solomon
Screenwriter: Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu
Distributor: Big World Pictures
Genre: History, Drama, Western, Comedy
Original Language: Romanian
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 14, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $104.7K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Most Popular at Home Now