Radu Jude is becoming the master of the extended third-act set piece. 

When you hear “extended third-act set piece,” you probably think about the climactic fights that culminate big-budget tentpoles. But Radu’s last three movies end with looooooong standalone scenes that basically operate as set pieces.

In I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians, it’s the from-beginning-to-end performance-art spectacle staged in the town square. 

In Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, it’s the Covid-chaotic parent-teacher conference.

And in his latest, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, it’s the behind-the-scenes oner about the filming of the corporate propaganda.