Review: On Body and Soul

On the outskirts of Budapest, the ageing recluse, Endre, is the reserved and saturnine manager of a small abattoir, who is used to hiding his disabled left arm along with his emotions behind a busy schedule. And then, unexpectedly, the loner’s eye is caught by a shy and graceful newcomer in the office; the young Mária, the plant’s cryptic and glacially beautiful quality-control inspector. Strange as it may seem, the slaughterhouse will provide the unorthodox background for a timid affair between the tender outcasts, who, even though they seem to be polar opposites, a small theft within the company’s walls will prove that those two definitely share an eerie and almost spiritual bond. However, are the two dreamers, Endre and Mária, ready to embrace the catharsis of love on both body and soul?