WFG RATING: A

A Budova Film in cooperation with Brio Film. Written and directed by David Arnaud Larson. Produced by Tommy Dickie, Sarah Craig, I. Neil Irwin, David Arnaud Larson. Story by I. Neil Irwin and Marianna Irwin. Cinematography by Sung Rae Cho. Edited by Andrei Iancu and Ecaterina Iaschevici.

Stars Irina Rusu, Tommy Dickie, Lia Sinchevici, Shawn Law, Ana Maria Cobileanschi, Galina Rosca, Igor Caras, Dragos Sctutelnicu, Serghei Terentii, Alexandrina Grecu, and Ion Jitari.

Inspired by true events, this is a film that takes a serious matter and successfully turns it into a really good dramedy thanks to the performances of the cast. 

Moldova, 2019. Olga Lupu is the Deputy Director of the National Tax Service. She has always followed the rules of the government. However, recent reports have revealed that the oligarchy are responsible for taking one billion euros of taxpayers’ money for themselves. This angers Mihai, who has decided to protest against the government and they are aware of what’s at stake. It gets to a point they have hired Jerry, an American consultant who brings in a hacker, Preston, to help him should things get out of hand.

Preston instantly meets Anastasia, Jerry’s translator and attempts to bond with her and learn more about Moldova. Meanwhile, when Olga is tasked with getting information about Mihai, the government sends corrupt police to arrest her son Andrei as collateral. Facing the demons of her past, where her husband faced a similar issue, Olga decides enough is enough and hatches a plan to get rid of the oligarchy once and for all. 

David Arnaud Larson has directed a film that may look like a political satire on the oligarchy that had plagued Moldova for decades until 2019, when the “puppet master” and his goons were voted out and went as far as fled the country. This film is looked at primarily from the Moldovan point of view with a side plot involving a young American hacker brought in to help the consultant control things if they go wrong and he learns there is more to life than money and power.  What is very intriguing is that Larson shot the film as a means to help the eventual destruction of the oligarchy in 2018 and six years later, we are finally seeing the film come to life!

The film boasts a terrific performance from Irina Rusu as Olga, a mother and deputy director of the country’s tax department. We see the character in flashbacks where her husband, an architect who found inspiration in Frank Lloyd Wright, was determined to make new buildings that are not utilitarian and ends up in a mental institution for his beliefs as it doesn’t agree with the oligarchy. It is when her son becomes “collateral” in making sure she goes on with her promise to gather information on lead protester Mihai, that she decides she has to help him take down the government. There’s even a young girl, Ludmila, played by Ana Maria Cobileanschi, who goes against the government in a measure of revenge, blaming corruption for the death of her mother. 

While there is the side plot of American hacker Preston, played by Tommy Dickie, bonding and learning about the country through the eyes of his boss’ translator, there is a connection. The character of Anastasia, played by Lia Sinchevici, is Olga’s daughter. As for Preston’s boss Jerry, played by Shawn Law, it is clear he could care less about the turnout of the country as long as he’s getting paid from the government to make sure the oligarchy remains. The protest scene brings it all together but adds quite a few twists that even I wasn’t expecting and just shows the solidarity of the Moldovan people in the effort of overthrow the oligarchy. 

Stampila (The Stamp) looks like a political satire but tackles a serious matter and despite bits of comic relief here and there, the film is about unity against a corrupt government and its success in the long run.