<Tr> <Td> Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter </Td> <Td> 9th </Td> </Tr> <P> The film received an enthusiastic response from critics, earning a 96% approval rating and 8.4 / 10 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 139 reviews, while also earning a 97% rating on Metacritic based on 37 reviews . Numerous critics also placed it in their top 10 films of 2007 or 2008 . Roger Ebert awarded it four stars, commenting on the stupidity of the character Găbița and contrasting her to the title character of that year's Juno, but hailing the film as "a powerful film and a stark visual accomplishment". Time magazine's Richard and Mary Corliss described it as a "gripping, satisfying film" and particularly noted the use of minimalism and "formal rigor" as defining aesthetic characteristics . Jay Weissberg from Variety magazine said that the film was "pitch perfect and brilliantly acted...a stunning achievement". He added that the film shares a number of characteristics with other productions of the New Romanian Cinema, namely: "long takes, controlled camera and an astonishing ear for natural dialogue". For The New York Times, Manohla Dargis championed the direction, cinematography and lengthy takes . </P> <P> Peter Bradshaw remarked on the sharpness of Otilia and the apparent naiveté of Găbița, but considered this is how their crisis could have affected them, and praised the film as "a masterpiece of intimate desperation". In Empire, Damon Wise gave it five stars, positively reviewing the cinematography, colour scheme, and the depiction of the black - market terror created when something is outlawed . The Independent's Jonathan Romney named it a "masterpiece", acknowledging the description "Romanian abortion drama" would be off - putting for some viewers but defending it as "harrowing". Writing for Le Monde, Thomas Sotinel called the film excellent and cited Marinca for an intense performance . Jean - Baptiste Morain of Les Inrockuptibles remarked on the film's powerful emotions, and credited Mungiu with managing to do much with little . </P> <P> Some sources view the film as indicative of a broader renaissance in Romanian cinema in the 2000s, particularly in light of other successful Romanian films . These include Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which won the Prix un certain regard at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival; Corneliu Porumboiu's 12: 08 East of Bucharest, which won the Camera d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; and Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin', which won the Prix un certain regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival . </P>

It took four years three months two weeks and a sunday