A Family (2026)

My mother really wanted sweet little children. Well, here they are. Sweet, endearing, and handsome too. Especially the little guy, as his father calls him as if his son were still 6 instead of 14, is cute and disarming. Rarely have I seen such a tidy teenage room, rarely such unrebellious and impossible teenagers. They obediently do everything Mom and Dad say, who also consistently continue to call each other Mom and Dad instead of that mother of yours, or that bitch, as I always hear after the disaster.

Once a vase falls to the ground, once there is a fight, and another time there is heavy drinking. And: once Mom comes to drop off the stuff at Dad's eleven minutes late. I once lost a friend myself because I showed up 7 minutes late, so I know people can be that petty, but to use that to illustrate the image of a bitter divorce and turn it into a movie?

Afterwards, I spoke to a father who is going through a divorce. He did understand that this is not how it should be done. So the film has pedagogical value, at least. Good.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Maria [Carice van Houten] and Jacob [Pieter Embrechts] have separated, but are still constantly bickering, particularly regarding daughter Nina [Celeste Holsheimer] and son Eli [Finn Vogels]. Nina wants “a permanent place for herself,” while Eli prefers everything to return to “normal.” In two segments ('Nina' and 'Eli'), we follow both children in the period that follows. Vogels makes an impression, but Holsmeier's acting (especially with her eyes) appears mechanical. Peijnenburg devotes too much time to the children's hobbies (dancing and swimming, respectively), and the two segments complement each other only sparingly, but this does provide a good picture of the dilemmas (and psychological pressure) that many children of divorcing parents face.

Translated from Dutch · View original

A beautiful, consistent style, and clear drama that very distinctly adopts the children's point of view. Where the parents get lost in trivialities and get in each other's way. Nina is older and more extroverted, so she can sometimes distance herself from her parents. For the young, more introverted Eli, that is much more difficult. The camera films primarily intimately and close to the skin. The film has three segments. First, Nina's point of view, then the same timeframe from Eli's, and then a short segment together. The two children impress as actors, especially Finn Voigels as Eli, who has to act almost silently for a large part of the scenes and experiences a very intense moment when he finally bursts.

Translated from Dutch · View original