Everybody In Our Family (2012)

Directed by: Radu Jude
Country: Romania / Netherlands

Review: “Everybody In Our Family” belongs to those typical Romanian films with lots of tension, quarrels, and action, where nobody is innocent, and madness takes possession of its characters. The story follows Marius, an unstable dental technician, who leads a disorganized life after having lost his wife to her accountant, as well as the custody of his five year-old daughter Sofia. However, having the right to spend some time with Sofia, he planned a holiday trip to the seaside with her. But things go wrong from the beginning, first when he asks for his dad's car, and then when he went to his ex-mother-in-law’s place to fetch his daughter. The film has plenty of funny situations, even when the verbal excesses and aggressions take hold of the story. Its dysfunctional characters were very well conceived, often sulking, accusing themselves, and evincing deranged behaviors. A strong scene is when Marius, completely out of his mind, starts to tell his daughter what he thinks about her mom, who was tied and gagged in front of them along with her new boyfriend. What started as a plausible family drama, ended up in a battlefield, with hostages, police involved, and a lot of turmoil. “Everybody In Our Family” never discards its frantic rhythm, being filled with poignant humor and extremely entertaining situations; some of them are stupid and exaggerated, but entertaining anyway. Impeccable direction and acting, in one of the craziest movies of the year.