Family Dinner

A new psychological slowburn drama with a slight horror edge from Austria. We have an overweight girl who goes to spend Easter with her aunt, who is supposed to help her lose some weight as she is into nutrition, only that this visit won't be entirely idyllic as something is definitely not right. It's a bit evocative of the much praised Speak no Evil, only here the psychological terror isn't as thick, it's more in the hints. Something interesting starts to happen only in the final minutes, which saves the whole film at least to the average. The execution and acting are fine, but who needs this nowadays? The Austrians are not strong representatives in the horror field, so any effort can be appreciated, but it could definitely have been presented in a more intense and chilling way. 5.5/10. (2023.04.13)

Family Dinner is an aspiring cheap B-movie that rather than filmmaking quality relies on the fun of the director's debut and a fairly novel idea. Don't expect any gore, cannibalism, horror or any brutality, on the contrary it's a very intimate and slow-paced mix of psychological obfuscation, keeping the viewer wondering what’s going on and a bit of that suspense at the end. Maybe it's the B-movie look and the "non-actors" that give the film a bit of that realism and make you feel "yeah, this could happen", thus gaining some sympathy from a small group of viewers, but for the classic mainstream consumer this is more of a step off and can definitely skip this one. Otherwise, it's down to the wire if you'll like this intimate, unconventional style. For me 2/3 - it's weaker and I was expecting more psycho terror, but it's got something going for it. (2023.04.10)