The guests who come to the mansion of aristocratic landowner and man of the world Nikolai over the Christmas holidays are hand-picked. Among them is a politician, a young countess and a general with his wife. They converse and dine - what a wonderful, much-missed way of life - indulge in parlour games and discuss the right form of authority in the face of political impotence as well as progress and morality, death and the Antichrist. As the debate becomes more heated, cultural differences become increasingly apparent and the mood grows tense.

‘Malmkrog’ writer/director Cristi Puiu, was the recipient of the Best Director award at the Encounters section at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, and also won Best Screenplay and a Golden Giraldillo for Best Film at the Seville EuropeanFilm Festival in 2020