Mungiu’s Fjord, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes earlier in the year, offers a healthy dose of very nutritious vegetables, and in places the story almost—almost—stretches the bounds of believability. But its actors, including Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, as well as two young newcomers, make you believe in one family’s sudden nightmare. Do the authorities entrusted to protect our children always know what’s best for them? Fjord suggests, provocatively, that the answer may not always be yes.

Mihai Gheorghiu (Stan), who is Romanian, and his Norwegian wife Lisbet (Reinsve) have just relocated with their five children from Romania to Norway, to be closer to Lisbet’s parents. Mihai and Lisbet are also deeply religious, and appear to be raising their children in a sometimes strict but undeniably loving home. One day, at the children’s new school, an instructor charged with protecting the students’ welfare notices a bruise on the shoulder of the eldest Gheorghiu daughter, Elia (Vanessa Ceban). The administrator takes swift action, and before Mihai and Lisbet can fully grasp what’s happening, their children—including their infant, who’s still breastfeeding—are whisked into foster homes. Their struggle to reunite their family involves risky twists and a great deal of frustrating bureaucracy.