In "King Lear," Shakespeare wrote that a thankless child is sharper than a serpent's tooth. In that vein, Cornelia (Luminita Gheorghiu) feels the pain of the serpent's bite throughout"Child's Pose," a film by Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer.
As a wealthy architect with connections in high places, Cornelia has a significant amount of power at her disposal. But her reach doesn't extend to her only child, Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache), as far as she'd like.
Barbu is over 30, so Mom should really leave the guy alone, and her friends tell her so. Even her husband calls her "Controlia" to her face and tells her to lay off. She won't. To Cornelia, Barbu is still a baby who needs constant care and supervision. When her attempts at closeness are thwarted, she hides her hurt, retreating behind designer dresses and a thick cloud of cigarette smoke.