A favourite from festivals like the Toronto International Film Festival, Radu Jude’s new film Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World is a masterclass of multitasking. The film incorporates clips from Communist Era Romanian film Angela Moves On. There, that titular taxi driver (Dorina Lazăr) eats on the road and drives by a highway that still kills drivers today. The film’s present day protagonist is Angela Raducani (Ilinca Manolache).

Angela tries to fix her grandmother’s grave which a cemetery bungles, inadvertently breaking tradition. To take her mind off that situation, she side gigs as TikToker who gets Uwe Boll to appear in her videos. Her main gig has her driving around to look for injured workers for her client Ms. Goethe’s (Nina Hoss) ad. And things go sideways when the worker they choose, Ovidiu Buca (Ovidiu Pîrșan). This is because he reminds them that his injury is Goethe’s fault.

This film follows up Radu Jude’s earlier output Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Jude comes back with a little more control even if he’s juggling two major storylines this time around. There’s also something tragic here about Angela working in what is basically a capitalist propaganda ad. Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World shows a character who has no choice. Sadly, she works against her own interests.

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World is a film about aftermaths, about Romania surviving Communism and COVID and surviving a de facto colonisation from the EU. Periods of hardship sometimes bring innovation, sometimes even from forces oppressing a country and its common citizens. And yet, those citizens still have to do things like carrying a paraplegic down a few flights of stairs.

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World does a lot of things by putting a movie within a movie. In one scene, Communist era Angela brushes off an accident, telling her passenger that she’s not that easy to scare. In comparison, Gen Z Angela is more confrontational, bordering on unprofessional. Either Radu Jude is showing how retrograde we are or that contemporary movies are more realistic.

There’s also something purposefully triggering about Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World. The intense verbal argument between Ovidiu’s family and the film crew is one for the ages. An offscreen crew member reminds the family that they’re paying the latter 1000 euros for an ad slandering workers. If I was in their position, I’d also complain but let’s be real, I’d also take their money.

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World appears in repertory theatres across the GTA and exclusively streams on MUBI starting May 3. MUBI is also having a retrospective of Radu Jude’s shorts called “Rules Don’t Apply”.