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{{Short description|2020 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox film
|name           = Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
|image          = Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.jpg
|caption        = Film poster
|director       = Lili Horvát
|producer       = Dóra Csernátony<br>Lili Horvát<br>Péter Miskolczi
|writer         =
|starring       = [[Natasa Stork]]
|cinematography = Róbert Maly
|editing        = Károly Szalai
|studio         =
|distributor    =
|released       = {{film date|2020|9|6|[[77th Venice International Film Festival|Venice]]|2020|9|24|Hungary|df=yes}}
|runtime        = 95 minutes
|country        = Hungary
|language       = Hungarian
}}
'''''Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time''''' ({{langx|hu|'''Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre'''}}) is a 2020 Hungarian [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by Lili Horvát. The film concerns a doctor who leaves her life in the United States to return home to [[Budapest]] after falling in love with another doctor, but he claims never to have met her before.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/preparations-to-be-together-for-an-unknown-period-of-time-review-1234769398/|first=Jessica|last=Kiang|title='Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time' Review: Superb Noirish Hungarian Drama|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=15 September 2020}}</ref> It was selected as the Hungarian entry for the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film|Best International Feature Film]] at the [[93rd Academy Awards]], but it was not nominated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/oscars-lili-horvat-preparations-to-be-together-for-an-unknown-period-of-time-1234838016/|title=Hungary Selects Lili Horvat's 'Preparations to Be Together' as Oscar Entry|magazine=Variety|first=Leo|last=Barraclough|date=23 November 2020}}</ref>
==Plot==
At a conference in [[New Jersey]], accomplished neurosurgeon Márta has an encounter with fellow doctor János. The brief meeting convinces Márta that he is the love of her life, and the two arrange a second meeting at the [[Liberty Bridge (Budapest)|Liberty Bridge]] in Budapest in one month's time. Quitting her job in America and returning to her native Hungary, Márta is shocked when János does not arrive at their meeting spot. Heading to Budapest Medical University to confront him, the man she identifies as János tells her that the two have never met before.
Deciding to stay in Budapest, Márta rents a run-down apartment and takes a job at the hospital János works at. There, she draws ire from her colleagues due to her attitude and tendency to offer alternative diagnoses of the hospital's patients. She becomes obsessed with János, watching old videos she can find of him on [[YouTube]] and following him after work. She begins to see a therapist as she starts to doubt whether the initial meeting really took place and seeks a [[personality disorder]] diagnosis.
The son of Márta's earlier patient offers to buy her dinner as a thanks for her help. He tries to invite himself into her apartment afterwards, but she rejects him. She finds a message in her office from János asking to talk; the two go shopping together and he offers to buy her a loudspeaker for her apartment. János later visits her apartment and the two have sex, but in the morning, he is nowhere to be found.
Helen, a friend and colleague of Márta's from New Jersey, visits her in Budapest. Helen convinces Márta to try calling János, but when she does Helen finds his jacket and phone inside Márta's apartment. Márta returns the item to the Budapest Medical University, then secretly follows János home. She quickly leaves when the door is answered by a young woman who says that she is János's daughter.
János tries to visit Márta but cannot access her apartment. He confesses that he did remember their meeting in New Jersey but did not think the arrangement to meet again in Budapest was serious; he also tells her that he is afraid of upsetting his relationship with his daughters as a single father. In the morning, János and Márta watch as two delivery men hoist a loudspeaker up to Márta's apartment.
==Cast==
*[[Natasa Stork]] as Vizy Márta
*Viktor Bodó as Drexler János
*Benett Vilmányi as Alex
*{{Ill|Zsolt Nagy (actor)|lt=Zsolt Nagy|hu|Nagy Zsolt (színművész)}} as Kriván Barna
*Péter Tóth as Pszichiáter
*Andor Lukáts as Dr. Fried
==Reception==
[[Review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film {{a or an|{{RT data|score}}}} approval rating based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The website's critics consensus reads: "Its title may be unwieldy, but ''Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time'' looks at the nature of love with commendable clarity."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/preparations_to_be_together_for_an_unknown_period_of_time|title=Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2021)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date={{RT data|access date|df=dmy}}}}</ref> According to [[Metacritic]], which sampled 12 critics and calculated a [[weighted arithmetic mean|weighted average score]] of 70 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/preparations-to-be-together-for-an-unknown-period-of-time|title=Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time Reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[Red Ventures]]|access-date=5 February 2021}}</ref>
===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
!Award
!Date of ceremony
!Category
!Recipient(s)
!Result
! class=unsortable|{{nowrap|{{Abbr|Ref(s)|References}}}}
|-
|[[Chicago International Film Festival]]
|25 October 2020
|Gold Hugo Award in New Directors Competition
|Lili Horvat
|{{won}}
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|title=Festival Award Winners |url=https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/festival/festival-award-winners/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101001000/https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/festival/festival-award-winners/|archive-date=November 1, 2020|access-date=October 22, 2022|website=Chicago International Film Festival}}</ref>
|-
|[[Independent Spirit Awards]]
|[[36th Independent Spirit Awards|22 April 2021]]
|[[Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film|Best International Film]]
|''Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time''
|{{nom}}
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/independent-spirit-awards-nominations-list-2021 |title=Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always,' 'Minari,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Nomadland' Top Nominations|last=Lewis|first=Hilary|date=26 January 2021|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=26 January 2021}}</ref>
|}
==See also==
*[[List of submissions to the 93rd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film]]
*[[List of Hungarian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|12564514}}
{{Hungarian submissions for the Academy Award}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time}}
[[Category:2020 drama films]]
[[Category:2020 films]]
[[Category:Hungarian drama films]]
[[Category:2020s Hungarian-language films]]
[[Category:2020 independent films]]
[[Category:Hungarian independent films]]