The ugly duckling of a fraught middle-class household has her life turned upside-down by the arrival of a handsome German exchange student, in this caustic, absurdist satire of petit-bourgeois family life from Dutch director Michiel ten Horn. (TIFF)
Direction
Ten Horn's deadpan staging makes every humiliation feel choreographed.
Acting
Dierickx's silent suffering — a masterclass in reactive performance.
Writing
Satire so precise it cuts; every family member is a thesis.
Director
Michiel ten Horn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of a wave of 2010s Dutch cinema examining middle-class malaise through grotesque family dynamics — think Haneke but with more cheese markets.
Rafael Gareisen was genuinely Austrian, not German, and his accent confusion was reportedly intentional casting friction that ten Horn exploited for extra awkwardness.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
NL
