Family Dinner is the feature debut of writer and director Peter Hengl, who had only produced short films previously. However, the bold red title font emblazoned across the opening credits, hint at the pedigree of the filmmaker as it reminds the viewer that he is a past student under the tutelage of the legendary Michael Heneke (Funny Games, Hidden) at the Vienna Film Academy. Hengl wears this influence on his sleeve as he crafts a morbid, murky, and brooding film that would garner praise from his former professor.
An overweight teenager (Nina Katlein) spends the Easter holidays at her famous nutritionist aunt's farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong and that her family should not be trusted.
Experienced horror fans will have no problem predicting where Family Dinner will go at its conclusion, but the journey will be mesmerising and harrowing. The German-language film is very deliberately paced in the rich history of elevated European cinema, but each scene crackles with intent and intensity. The viewer is left unnerved and unbalanced with each new interaction between characters who clearly have hidden motives.
Nina Katlein is a revelation as the determined Simi. The character sets her mind to something and fully commits to it and the actor beautifully manages to capture the duelling parts of Simi's personality as she struggles to make sense of the escalating tensions in the home of her aunt. Katlein effortlessly shifts between determination, compassion, fear, and bravery, as she crafts a fully-fledged three-dimensional person with specific goals and uncertain boundaries. She grapples with her unhealthy habits, but remains focused on body positivity and staying true to herself throughout the attempt to lose excess weight.
Pia Hierzegger is equally superb as the jittery and manipulative Aunt Claudia whose dialogue is layered with venom and disdain. Her performance is grotesque, unhinged and hypnotic, with each scene building momentum towards a brutal outcome which our protagonist is oblivious to.
The sound design for Family Dinner is a character in its own right as it gets under the viewer's skin. Creepy, but fun sound-effects make connections between the food being consumed, the physical changes the characters undergo and the continuous build-up of tension. The audience becomes a complicit voyeur, as Hengl immerses them in a strained and weird, but relatable, family dynamic, while the pacing keeps us, and Simi, mystified by the unsettling and perplexing events. The foreshadowing wonderfully pays off as a reward for anyone paying close attention to the unfolding madness.
Family Dinner is a deviously delicious recipe of psychological manipulation and macabre horror that combines effectively into a feast of a meal and gives us a cinematic first; a horror film set during the Easter period. Move over Halloween and Friday the 13th. Give way Killer Santa because the Easter Bunny has a malicious and creepy tale to tell.
