– In his feature-length directorial debut, actor Cristian Bota compellingly explores inherited toxic behavioural patterns
Cristian Bota (left) and Adrian Titieni in Back and Forth
Better known as an actor, Romania’s Cristian Bota takes a turn in his career with Back and Forth, a road movie and family drama that has just won the Best Romanian Feature Debut Award at the 25th Transilvania International Film Festival (see the news). With strong performances from Bota, who also plays the protagonist, and Adrian Titieni, the feature leads the viewer to meditate on toxic behaviours that we inherit from our parents without even realising it, and perhaps, to even re-evaluate his or her own relationships.
Bota, who is also the screenwriter, plays Cornel, a young actor and father of two who is frustrated that his career doesn’t meet the financial needs of his young family, while his dissatisfied, over-worked, stay-at-home wife (Dana Rogoz) simply wants more from their relationship and her life. As a questionable way to solve his issues, Cornel (with a few ulterior motives) accompanies his father, Octavian (Titieni), to Austria to celebrate Easter together with Cornel’s brother (Conrad Mericoffer). From the very beginning, we realise the father and son have a strained relationship, which will be further tested by the trip.
Bota has a very clear idea of what he wants from his feature debut, and Back and Forth is quite straightforward both in directing and in storytelling. The director’s purpose is made clear from the very beginning, where he quotes Leo Tolstoy with “All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And, indeed, this family is not at all happy, as we soon discover the deep resentment the son harbours towards his father…
The screenplay is a tad linear and at times even feels schematic, as every line and every event is designed to reveal bits of the protagonists’ past, but Bota and Titieni are both similarly compelling in their long conversations, which can turn from sarcastic banter to insults and full-blown rage in a second. Bota infuses his story with some humour, as Cornel often plays pranks – for example, telling his homophobic father that he is bisexual – but the viewer cannot help but pity these characters that have hurt each other repeatedly, and are trapped in the same pattern of abuse, mistrust and resentment.
Watching the escalating animosity on screen, the viewer is prompted to re-evaluate his or her own relationships, or whatever we might have unwittingly inherited from our parents. If the Tolstoy quote wisely avoids telegraphing the film’s trajectory, two other final (and rather unnecessary) quotes from James Baldwin and Gabor Maté frame the protagonists’ ordeal, showing how difficult it is to escape bad examples and toxic behavioural patterns, which brings to mind a quote from Tudor Platon’s rather disappointing documentary An Almost Perfect Family: “Even the stupidest man can teach someone a good lesson just by being a bad example.” But what if someone doesn’t want to be taught that lesson?
They say, “You are the company you keep,” and it might be true, as shared values and worldviews greatly influence who we become, but in this case, “You are what you do” would better describe the young protagonist’s predicament, as he seems determined to repeat his father’s mistakes. Unfair, boorish and unwilling to acknowledge his own failings, Octavian becomes one of Romanian cinema’s most memorable recent villains, and yet Bota finds some compassion for the character, suggesting that recognising one’s flaws is the first true step towards healing.
Back and Forth was produced by Scharf Film Production (Romania). The film will be released domestically in the spring of 2027.
