When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism(Când se lasa seara peste Bucuresti sau metabolism)

Slant Magazine by

At once a microcosmic expression of frustration and another of auto-critique, When Evening Falls devilishly recalls and riffs on seemingly shapeless conversations between its very small ensemble of characters without succumbing to soporific navel-gazing.

The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg

[A] dryly funny, enigmatic new work.

The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij

The third feature of Romanian auteur Corneliu Porumboiu that again takes a clichéd-seeming premise and carefully proceeds to turn it on its head through logic, absurd humor and the consumption of vast quantities of cigarettes.

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

Metabolism contains enough moments that reward patience to balance off the eventual teetering off of its strengths.

Variety by Jay Weissberg

Porumboiu so carefully intellectualizes every outwardly inconsequential exchange that the picture has no room to breathe, forcing audiences to work hard to catch the sly playfulness and cunning within.

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

At times, Porumboiu’s mix of repetition and resignation recalls Samuel Beckett, and if the overall result is more of a clever exercise than a proper movie, it’ll still have some dryly amusing appeal for those who appreciate intellectual absurdism.

The Dissolve by Scott Tobias

For all the formidable intellect that went into its conceit, When Evening Falls On Bucharest has a slightness that isn’t helped much by the weight of the discussion, which occasionally presses it into a flat soufflé. But Porumboiu’s insight into the filmmaking process itself is often fascinating.