The film zeroes in on two women: Kata, older and widowed, and Anna, a downtrodden young women kept in a children's institution by her unloving parents. Her own sense of self-value strengthened by an unhappy love affair (she realizes that all fault lay with the man), Kata helps free Anna from her family's influence. Anna gets married, while Kata adopts a child from the institution where Anna had previously dwelled. A winner of several film awards in its country of origin, The Adoption was directed by Marta Meszaros, the wife of renowned Hungarian filmmaker Miklos Jancso.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide