Family Dinner

I would call this a great breath of fresh air if the movie's inherent atmosphere wasn't so suffocating.

I am puzzled by some of the really negative user reviews. Is it a Hollywood movie? Is it an actual horror movie? No to both. It is a very European movie. Not flashy, no special effects, just a gently paced, mounting sense of dread and discomfort. The cold set and lighting contribute to a sense of impending tragedy.

Overweight Simi is cleverly made to look and feel like an outsider among the painfully thin Aunt Claudia and her partner Steffan. Aunt Claudia is a famous nutritionist whom Simi hope will help lose weight. It soon appears that Claudia's techniques have become a little extreme as indeed has her mental health.

Gently paced but ultimately very tense and frightening with really strong and. Nuanced central performances.

Give it a shot.

One will need subtitles, as the film is in German. Aunt Claudia and Uncle Stefan and son Philipp live on an isolated farm in the countryside. Simi, a bit overweight is to visit and arrives the Tuesday before Easter, thinking she would stay through Easter. But she is informed that Easter is a very special and private time, and they didn't expect her to stay that long. Claudia is a nutrition expert, and puts Simi on a diet. Diet is the wrong term, as it is to be NO food until Easter, and she is then invited to stay longer. She has to share the room with Filipp, and it is clear he doesn't like her. Claudia says he has a personality disorder and often runs away. It is slow paced, very moody, and there are many undercurrents to the story. As Easter approaches, Stefan says he doesn't agree with the entire ritual, but it is very important to Claudia, so Simi should just go along with it. I can't really consider it a horror movie in the true sense, as there are no jump scares or other things associated with horror movies. It is decent movie, well acted but not really special.

The film was advertised as a domestic horror film and the mood and the location was very well met. In terms of action, the whole film takes place on a farm in the countryside (Lower Austria), the actors are all very convincing and were well chosen. Pia Hierzegger is of course fantastic as the aunt, very believable.

The label horror film is too strong for me, although it certainly fits into the genre, but measured against today's usual horror films, the film is already rather harmless, more psychological thriller. Also, the film offers little surprising.

The story: overweight teenager Simi visits aunt Claudia, a nutrition expert, in the countryside (with hopes to be helped with dieting), with (newly married) uncle Stefan and cousin Fillip (from the first marriage of the aunt). Simi feels uncomfortable from the beginning, the cousin a creep, the aunt strict, the uncle too nice?

I felt they got inspired by films like "Get Out," "The Wicker Man," as well as some Hammer films from the sixties. Without giving more away, you definitely guess what the whole thing is leading up to in the course of the film. That's what I meant by unsurprising. I was missing a twist that would change your view of the story and question your perception, so to speak, but that twist doesn't come. Conclusion: well done, but not top notch.

No pun intended - someone who supposedly is good at diets, should be able to help a family member out, right? Well you would think that, but on the other hand, it seems like she has issues to keep her own son in check, so maybe she is not the best person to get advice from.

Now overall I assume most will know (predict) where the movie is going. You will not get bonus points (or brownies for that matter), if you guess that right. Even the weirdly placed wooden ritual thing is very on the nose. Still, this is a first time filmmaker (feature length that is) and maybe you are able to cut him some slack for that.

The performances are good, though quite understated. As intended I assume. There is insanity, but there could be more. There is some logic to it all, but there could be way better decision making. From all involved ... but it is what it is. Either go with the flow or leave it be.

I wouldn't consider this a real horror movie, it's more of a slow paced psychological thriller with some horror elements towards the third act. Usually I'm not a big fan of slow-paced movies but since this was an Austrian horror movie which we don't see a lot from I was intrigued.

It follows Simi, an overweight teenager who's staying at her aunts farm in her holidays. Her aunt is a famous writer and nutrition expert and is teaching Simi a lot about eating healthy. The aunt portrayed by Pia Hierzegger immediately has a weird presence and also her husband Stefan sometimes just seems too nice and is creating an uncomfortable sexual tension between the teenager and him. He also doesn't seem to like the aunts son Filipp. Filipp is acting creepy and keeps weirding out Simi even telling her that he thinks that his mother has evil plans for him. The movie slowly makes its tension-filled way towards the final act where you get the answer to your questions. Some might say it was predictable but I still enjoyed it and think it was a decent watch. [5,6/10]