It brings me no pleasure to report that Sebastian Stan plays a conservative, bald homophobe—who maybe hits his kids—in his new movie, Fjord. But after attending a press screening of the film at New York Film Festival this week, I feel duty-bound to alert the Bucky fan girls and boys of this harsh reality. Prepare yourselves.

This new legal drama, which open in U.S. theaters on October 9, was written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, best known for his 2007 critically-acclaimed film, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. For Fjord, Mungiu was inspired by the true story of a Romanian family living in Norway, whose four children—and infant baby—were taken away by the country’s child protection services, after the parents admitted to spanking their children. The 2016 case sparked worldwide protests. The Bodnariu family eventually got their kids back, nearly seven months after they were taken.

Stan stars in Fjord as Mihai Gheorghiu (whose name was changed from Marius Bodnariu), a religious Romanian man who moves his family to Norway, where his wife, Lisbet (Renate Reinsve, reuniting with Stan following 2024’s A Different Man), is from. We meet Mihai right after he has administered an unseen punishment to his eldest daughter, Elia (Vanessa Ceban). He lectures her in English, through a thick Romanian accent: “You need to learn to admit when you’re wrong.” Reader, that line read is far more chilling than any Winter Soldier rampage.

The family’s new Norwegians neighbors are bemused by the family’s austere, Christian lifestyle (no phones, no non-religious music, no dancing) and discipline system. Mihai leads his children in daily Bible studies, issuing “points” when they are late, interrupt, or get an answer wrong. And what happens when they accumulate too many points? Well, sometimes, apparently, a spanking.

“They can be cheerful when they are grown-ups,” he replies, dismissive, when a neighbor asks why he punishes his children this way.

One day, Elia shows up to her new secular school with a bruise on her cheek and back. A teacher overhears her brother claiming their mother “punished” Elia. Child protection services are called. In the blink of an eye, all five of the Gheorghiu children are taken from their home and parents. That includes the infant baby, who is still breast-feeding.

Mihai and Lisbet are understandably distraught and outraged to have their children essentially kidnapped from them, based on a little evidence. Mihai, in particular, suspects they are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. In the civil trial that follows, it does certainly seem that a key strategy of the prosecution is to highlight Mihai’s conservatism. At one point, Mihai is asked by the opposing lawyer to define “traditional family.”

“A man and a woman,” Mihai replies.

The lawyer presses: Does Mihai believe in traditional families should be a marriage between only man and a woman?

Mihai replies with a question of his own: Is it a crime for him to believe that?

Oof. No, it’s not a crime, Mihai. But it is tough for Stan stans—who love him as the sardonic, loyal, and kind-hearted BFF of Steve Rogers in the MCU Captain America franchise—to watch him a play character so blatantly homophobic. (If the “man and a woman” line isn’t enough evidence for you, know that Mihai’s youngest daughter tells another girl at school she’s going to Hell for being a lesbian—a belief she surely picked up from her father.) Was it not bad enough that loyal fans had to watch Stan play a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice last year?

Don’t get it twisted: Stan gives a phenomonal performance in Fjord. It’s a complete transformation, and not just because he shaved the top of his head, grew a beard, and put on a pair of glasses. The hair and costuming go a long way, sure. But it’s in the way Stan carries himself—his quiet, controlled anger; his careful movements—that make him virtually unrecognizable.

Hey, sometimes, being a great actor mean playing a character who couldn’t be further from who you are in real life. Fjord does it’s best to avoid passing judgement on Mihai’s way of life, so perhaps audiences ought to, too. And we can take comfort knowing that Bucky would absolutely destroy Mihai in a fight.