Happening tells a harrowing tale of a young girl’s unplanned pregnancy, and the torturous journey she is forced to take when she is denied the choice to terminate. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (the festival’s highest prize), Happening is one of the most powerful and certainly the most excruciating films that I watched at the Sundance Film Festival this year (and that’s including two horror films).

An adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s eponymous novel, Happening is the story of Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), a naturally beautiful girl who’s also clearly not interested in men’s advances. She waves off their interest to dance on a night out with friends, who are all excited by the allure of male closeness. We see that Anne’s real focus and gifts are in the classroom. Clearly bright with academic potential, Anne is passionate about her area of study: Literature and writing.

The film makes an interesting reveal when we see Anne–and not any of her flirtier friends–checking to see if she has gotten her period. “Still nothing,” she scrawls onto a notepad. A title card flashes onscreen: “3 weeks.” Apparently, she’s been hiding something that we’re not yet aware of.

At a doctor’s appointment, we learn of both Anne’s situation and the time in which this is all taking place: we’re in 1960s France, a time when abortion is illegal. So when the doctor tells Anne that she’s pregnant, she’s shocked, and can’t believe the news (nothing we’ve seen onscreen at this point has shown how this could be the case).

Beyond dashing her plans for taking exams to get into University, carrying the baby to term would determine the rest of her life as a struggling unwed mother. With more force than fear, she asks the doctor to take care of it. His furious look back at her with judgment in his eyes shows the larger culture’s belief, that this is not a woman’s choice. Anne’s road ahead is about to be a very tough one and one she’ll have to take alone; however illegal and dangerous.

The way the film tells its story and how it divulges information is very smart. Initially setting up Anne as the prudish outsider, only to show that she’s actually the one with the deeper understanding of the world, is a powerful reveal. Happening also subverts expectations with how we learn that the subject of pregnancy is taboo altogether. The doctors, students at school, and even her friends meet the topic with discomfort and fear.

Bringing Anne’s heartbreaking story to the screen is Anamaria Vartolomei, whose soft exterior transforms into a determined, hardened one. Her resolve grows after each attempt to terminate the pregnancy goes unsuccessful, with suspense growing as the title cards continue to arise (4 weeks, 5 weeks, 9 weeks…). As Anne’s focus drifts from her studies and onto her more immediate time-sensitive urgencies, Anamaria brings unwavering conviction (“I’ll manage,” she says). It leads to a disturbingly depicted scene of Anne attempting to handle it herself, which had my hands gripping my face and watching through my fingers to make it through.

What’s terrible is that even this attempt is not where her story ends. Director Audrey Diwan is so fearless in how she keeps us in Anne’s point of view the entire time. The decision to shoot in 4:3 aspect ratio keeps Anne in the middle of the frame, speaking to how subtle yet impactful the cinematography by Laurent Tangy is. Anne can’t escape this story, no matter how hard she tries.

It’s wrenching to watch the film’s breathtaking climax. And yet, this challenging finale is also why the film is so important. Beautifully lensed, strongly directed, and with a lead performance that is one of the bravest I’ve seen from a promising new actor, Happening tells a vital story that is sure to make a searing impression in your mind, and whose politics are still being fought for today.

100 min. Distributed by IFC Films. ‘Happening’ is rated R for disturbing material/images, sexual content and graphic nudity.