Tribeca Review: Interpersonal Dynamics in "Family Therapy"

by Abe Friedtanzer

Movies give us a window into a particular moment in time, opening on characters at a certain point in relationships with or without added context. It’s possible to form judgments based on how they act and react in given situations without knowing much – or anything – more about them. Slovenian director Sonja Prosenc offers a bizarre but deeply inviting portrait of a family still trying to figure out how it operates in Family Therapy, an off-kilter comedy that often says much more without words than it does with them…

The first scene of Family Therapy finds one family of three by the side of a road as their car has literally burst into flames. Another family drives by without stopping, a decision that won’t come back to haunt them exactly but will cause them minor inconveniences, like having to host the stranded family overnight before they quickly disappear and then continue to remain elusive throughout the film. Alexander (Marko Mandic) and Olivia (Katarina Stegnar) are preoccupied with their own drama: Alexander’s son from another mother, Julien (Aliocha Schneider), has just arrived to live with them, an uncertain process that will take some adjusting for both parents and their daughter Agata (Mila Bezjak), who is initially quite skeptical of her new brother.

There are multiple worthwhile subplots in this subtle and entertaining film, including Alexander’s preoccupation with enrolling his family in a contest that might allow them to travel to space (reminiscent of a very different and unfortunately underseen Tribeca entry from 2022, Space Oddity). There are strange sexual vibes in the household between not just Julien and Agata but also Julien and his new stepmother, who has little patience for her any of her husband’s antics and the circumstances that led to another child of his ending up in their home. That the family has keys to lock people into bedrooms also adds layers and barriers to the already tense and uncomfortable dynamics of the household.

Family Therapy doesn’t have a specific endgame in sight, following its characters through multiple awkward interactions, some intimate and revealing and others very public and deeply cringeworthy. Prosenc has a history of exploring family relationships in her previous features History of Love and The Tree, and her latest work is a specimen to behold, best likened to its opening scene. It’s often hard to look away from a car wreck, but there are those who would rather not talk about or acknowledge something rather than truly engage with it. This film relishes sticking around in that discomfort. B+

Family Therapy makes its world premiere in the International Narrative Competition at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.