Review: No easy answers in 'The Dinner'

[The Patriot]

Review: No easy answers in 'The Dinner'

05-04-2017 11:55 AM

Oren Moverman is a challenging filmmaker, one who doesn’t want to make things easy and palatable for audiences, but complicated, nuanced, sensorially heightened. That means sometimes his films are uncomfortable to watch, and in the case of “The Dinner,” that discomfort fits perfectly with the subject matter. Based on the bestselling book by Dutch author Herman Koch, “The Dinner” is a gripping family drama grappling with mental illness, past traumas, and conflicting moralities against the backdrop of a lavish and extravagant dinner. There are no easy answers to be found in this tale, and Moverman’s formal experimentation makes that experience manifest for the audience.


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