Overweight and insecure, Simi spends Easter weekend with her famous nutritionist aunt. The hope is that it will help her get on a healthier track, but as the aunt’s family’s icy dynamics and an increasingly malevolent atmosphere leave Simi feeling uneasy, weight isn’t the only thing she’s about to lose.
Family Dinner deals with the way we see ourselves as opposed to the way others see us, with a healthy dose of teenage years that are difficult enough without extremely unhealthy family relationships. It may sound like a lot, but Hengel sails through these difficult topics with the ease of an experienced director, preserving a gloomy atmosphere full of anticipation that keeps us tense from start to finish. One of the most impressive genre accomplishments in the past years has it all: horror atmosphere, creepy characters and a tangible tension you will feel way down to your every bone.
Peter Hengl is an Austrian screenwriter and director for film and TV. He studied at the Vienna Film Academy under professors such as Götz Spielmann and Michael Haneke. His student films were shown at dozens of festivals worldwide and received several awards and nominations. Family Dinner is his first feature film.
