I've always disliked, and steered clear of, family get-togethers, although I’ve never experienced anything quite as unpleasant as this one. “Helge” (Henning Moritzen) is turning sixty, and has gathered his relatives and friends at an upscale hotel to mark the occasion. We quickly realize things aren't going to be easy when son “Michael” (Thomas Bo Larsen) arrives with brother “Christian” (Ulrich Thomsen), only to find out he wasn’t on the guest list. It seems no one made a mistake, so his brother has to step in and arrange lodging for him, his wife, and their children. Then their sister, an anthropologist named “Helene” (Paprika Steen), shows up with her boyfriend “Gbatokai” (Gbatokai Dakinah), and the siblings’ competitiveness is immediately apparent to everyone watching, as is the tension in the marriage between “Michael” and his wife “Mette” (Helle Dolleris). With this clearly strained atmosphere set, we move into the dining room where their dad and mum “Elsie” (Birthe Neumann) are being entertained by a virgin toastmaster (Klaus Bondam), who assumes this will be a polite gathering of complimentary speeches from a loving family. Not so fast. After some wine and schnapps, “Christian” gets things started with an accusatory and angry tribute – and that’s just the beginning of a truly awful meal. A lot of what we see is as if we're observing unnoticed, or perhaps hiding in a handbag somewhere, and that (naturally lit) handheld camera work brings us close to the action as everything falls apart. Despite the disturbing subject matter, there are moments for some humor – though not laugh-out-loud funny – and the story occasionally pauses to give us a chance to catch our breath from its intensity. Thomsen and Larson both deliver powerful performances, but I thought Dolleris and, to a lesser degree, Dakinah, were particularly memorable, their portrayals diverting our attention from the main storyline in quite different, and entertaining, ways. I can only hope that Thomas Vinterberg didn’t draw too heavily on his own life experiences, as this cleverly masks our growing sense of revulsion behind a façade of more conventional behavior – like a black tie affair with heads buried in the sand or a bottle. It starts strong and is worth seeing—though maybe not right before a significant celebration dinner.

Source on TMDB