Philanthropy

Ovidiu Gorea, a jaded high-school teacher and aspiring writer, has just published a collection titled Nobody Dies for Free. The bookstores reject it and it fails to sell, leaving him frustrated and financially strained. He remains living with his parents, chasing a dream that seems out of reach.

The high school principal tasks him with handling a problem-student, Robert. Ovidiu tries to arrange a talk by having Robert call one of his parents, but the boy instead sends his sister, Diana, who is strikingly beautiful. Ovidiu is instantly smitten, foreshadowing trouble to come.

On a date that was supposed to be a quiet coffee, Ovidiu follows Diana into a night of bar-hopping and showy spending. He hopes to impress her with a glamorous image, but the evening blows through his finances and patience. By the end, he is nearly broke and morally conflicted.

One night he meets a shabby-looking drunk beggar who offers to recite poems in exchange for vodka. The beggar explains that he can earn two or three times what Ovidiu makes by selling tear-jerking stories, directing him to the Filantropica Foundation. Intrigued and desperate, Ovidiu visits the foundation.

Inside the foundation's desolate basement, Pavel Puiuț pitches a lucrative scheme to exploit pity. He pairs Ovidiu with Miruna, and sends them to high-end restaurants posing as poor teachers celebrating a wedding anniversary. Their assignment is to trigger a charitable payout from wealthy diners and split the money with a waiter.

At the restaurants, Ovidiu and Miruna perform the ruse and stage scenes of financial desperation. Ovidiu must escalate the moment to provoke a generous gesture from a rich patron, and the trio splits the money after the 'pity' buy-in. The scheme marks a slippery ascent into fraud and moral compromise.

With the money flowing, Ovidiu buys a flashy roadster and takes Diana to lakeside clubs to show off. He treats her as a conquest rather than a person, hoping the expensive lifestyle will win her affection. But all the while his conscience gnaws at him.

Puiuț grants Ovidiu access to the foundation's 'show-house,' a day-rental property meant to impress the social circle. A mis-timed client call reveals the hoax, blowing his cover and causing Diana to walk out on him. The illusion of respectability begins to crumble.

The next day Miruna becomes romantically involved with Ovidiu and they share a bed, much to his surprise when he learns she was a former prostitute. She manipulates him emotionally, pulling him deeper into the operation. Ovidiu's ego and vulnerability become increasingly entwined with her.

Emboldened, Miruna pushes Ovidiu to perform the scam for their own benefit and they dine out again. The karaoke bar plan fails when the noise drowns out their scene, and a hostile waiter drags Ovidiu to the back. Puiuț then reveals the grand scheme on a TV show, announcing the foundation's account to collect money for the 'poor teachers'.

Back at school, two thugs confront Ovidiu about Robert and the debt he owes. Ovidiu withdraws 3,000 from the foundation's account and gives it to Diana, who pretends to be impressed and invites him to visit that night. She instead leaves the city, deepening his sense of betrayal and vulnerability.

Ovidiu finds Robert in a park, now turned into a beggar, who reveals that 'Diana' was not his sister. The true scope of the scam begins to dawn as the lines between victim and perpetrator blur. Ovidiu realizes his own life has become part of Puiuț's manipulation.

With the 3,000 missing and the pressure mounting, the media and Puiuț stage a big lottery prize to keep the debt hidden. Ovidiu grudgingly accepts his fate and Miruna becomes his wife as part of the ongoing deceit. The foundation tightens its grip, pulling him further into its scheme.

Puiuț finds Robert on the street and convinces him to join the operation. He breaks the fourth wall, asking the audience if they feel pity for this piece of trash and declaring, Got your money. The finale leaves a cynical sting about exploitation hidden behind acts of apparent charity.