Aurora

The second of Cristi Puiu's proposed "Six Stories from the Outskirts of Bucharest" - the first was The Death of Mr Lazarescu in 2005 - is a rigorous study of a man's daily life that also doubles as a gripping thriller, as the director also stars as a motiveless killer awaiting his moment to strike. Angry at the world after losing his job, Puiu's middle-aged Viorel endures fractious encounters with his mother, a neighbour whose leaky plumbing has damaged his ceiling, some decorators and shop assistants at a downtown boutique. But his special ire is reserved for others and Puiu depicts the dispensing of twisted justice with a ruthless efficiency that is all the more chilling for its detachment. Despite Viorel Sergovici's camera being kept at a discreet distance, this feels like a relentless intrusion into private pain with Puiu's hangdog performance reflecting the disillusion with changes that have simply inflicted an alternative misery upon Romania's long-suffering citizens.