Akik maradtak

In Budapest, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Klara (Abigél Szőke), a sharp-tongued girl making a rocky transition to puberty, is treated by Aladár (Károly Hajduk), a gentle, decent middle-aged doctor. She lashes out in furious denial over the loss of her parents; he is paralyzed in silent grief over the deaths of his wife and child. Together, they struggle to carve out a space between sexual impropriety and redemption. But a new totalitarian threat has started to take shape around them, as the Soviets begin asserting their force. Director Barnabás Tóth, who cowrote the script with Klára Muhi, crafts a quiet but deeply affecting and exquisite story of survival, achieving the impossible: a balance between heartbreaking grief and the hope of a new beginning. Szőke, just 17 at the time of filming, provides a mesmerizing portrait of a girl ascending to womanhood under a veil of rage and sadness. (Telluride Film Festival)