Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In 1960s Poland, young novitiate Anna is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.
Ida is a visually stunning work, shot in crisp Academy-ratio black and white with compositions of extraordinary precision — characters placed low in the frame beneath vast, empty skies, creating an almost painterly austerity. Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza deliver performances of remarkable restraint and depth. Its novelty lies in its singular, meditative voice — sparse dialogue, elliptical storytelling, and a tone that feels genuinely one-of-a-kind among contemporary European cinema. The plot, while affecting, is relatively spare and the ending, though tonally consistent, is deliberately ambiguous in a way that satisfies intellectually more than emotionally.