I hadn't even heard about this 2022 German mystery movie titled "Family Dinner" from writer and director Peter Hengl prior to stumbling upon it by random luck here in 2023. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, nor even heard about, of course my interest was spurned, and thus I sat down to watch "Family Dinner" without knowing what I was in for.
Well, "Family Dinner" definitely had potential, I will say that much. However, writer and director Peter Hengl delivered a movie that ultimately failed to entertain me, solely because the narrative was so insanely slow paced and without anything of any interest happening before the movie was about to end, then I feel that I have literally wasted 97 minutes on watching "Family Dinner".
As I am by no means well-traversed in the German cinema, then I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. I will say that leading actress Nina Katlein (playing Simi) did carry the movie quite well with her performance.
"Family Dinner" was simply too much of a slow burn to provide me with enjoyment or entertainment. Yet, I still managed to sit through the entire movie, hoping that director Peter Hengl would pick up the pace and start to deliver something worthwhile. That just never happened. And by the time something started to happen, around the last 10 minutes or so of the movie, it was just simply too little, too late. And worse still, what did happen was so predictable that you saw it coming a mile away.
It should be noted, however, that the cinematography in the movie was actually fair enough, and helped keep the movie from utterly sinking to the bottom.
If you enjoy a good mystery, then give "Family Dinner" a wide berth. It simply is too uneventful and slow paced. This is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on.
My rating of "Family Dinner" lands on a three out of ten stars.
Well, "Family Dinner" definitely had potential, I will say that much. However, writer and director Peter Hengl delivered a movie that ultimately failed to entertain me, solely because the narrative was so insanely slow paced and without anything of any interest happening before the movie was about to end, then I feel that I have literally wasted 97 minutes on watching "Family Dinner".
As I am by no means well-traversed in the German cinema, then I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. I will say that leading actress Nina Katlein (playing Simi) did carry the movie quite well with her performance.
"Family Dinner" was simply too much of a slow burn to provide me with enjoyment or entertainment. Yet, I still managed to sit through the entire movie, hoping that director Peter Hengl would pick up the pace and start to deliver something worthwhile. That just never happened. And by the time something started to happen, around the last 10 minutes or so of the movie, it was just simply too little, too late. And worse still, what did happen was so predictable that you saw it coming a mile away.
It should be noted, however, that the cinematography in the movie was actually fair enough, and helped keep the movie from utterly sinking to the bottom.
If you enjoy a good mystery, then give "Family Dinner" a wide berth. It simply is too uneventful and slow paced. This is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on.
My rating of "Family Dinner" lands on a three out of ten stars.