Family Dinner

Simone, called Simi (Nina Katlein), is 15 years old, overweight and has been invited to her aunt Claudia's (Pia Hierzegger) remote farm for the Easter vacations. Simi hopes that her aunt - a well-known nutritionist - can help her lose weight. But what begins as a harmless diet stay quickly turns into a sinister power play. Claudia subjects Simi to a strict zero diet and exhibits increasingly disturbing behavior. The family atmosphere is tense, especially the relationship with Simi's cousin Filipp and his stepfather Stefan is difficult. Simi discovers occult symbols, runes and references to ritual practices. As she tries to escape, it becomes clear that a dangerous secret lurks behind the facade of healthy eating. Like a frog in boiling water: In its mixture of psychological horror, occult thriller and family drama, Peter Hengl's film explores very personal themes such as internal family manipulation, teenage self-esteem issues and the dark side of diet culture and rituals. The eerie atmosphere and the slow pace of the narrative in the supposedly idyllic home movie setting heighten the tension right up to the shocking finale and are reminiscent of the daylight horror shocker “Midsommer”. With its daring mix, “Family Dinner” made it to the Tribeca Film Festival and the Viennale. "The characters collide in such a confined space that you feel claustrophobic even while watching. Especially as a lot of things - at least for the Germans among us - feel somehow “off”, which only fuels the uneasiness that arises even in the face of the grandiose, delicious-looking dishes at this very special family dinner. [...] Rarely has the clash of different acting styles suited this family reunion of a very special (and particularly nasty) kind so well... Conclusion: This is how we like Austrian (genre) cinema best! Wonderfully weird and creepy - even if you suspect at some point how the rabbit is running, the strongly staged and even more strongly acted “Family Dinner” lands a good punch!" (Christoph Petersen, on: filmstarts.de)