Trial by family

by Jaoui and Bacri

In French with English surtitles

Director Morgan Dowsett

Producer Michael Bula

Whilst his brother Philippe is making a name for himself as a high-flying company executive, Henri has to content himself with running the saloon bar he inherited from his father. His sister, Betty, is a tear-away feminist who, to her mother’s chagrin, still hasn’t settled down and started a family, despite being 30 – although she has been having a clandestine relationship with Henri’s barman, Denis. The family comes together on Friday evenings and on this particular one to celebrate the birthday of Philippe’s wife, Yolande – just as Henri hears the news that his wife is leaving him. The soirée soon turns into a nightmare as the siblings and their matriarchal mother start an interminable round of bickering, each seemingly incapable of responding to the others’ personal crises…