The family drama. A genre that gives audiences the opportunity to observe the intricacies of the family dynamic, without having to engage in any of the aggro that may come with it.

German director Mascha Schilinski, with only her second feature, delivers not just any old family drama, but one that spans four generations of families, who all happened to live in the same place.

The early 20th century, and Alma (Hanna Heck), age 7, lives on a rural farm in the Altmark region of Germany, with her family.

It is the same farm that will also be home for Erika (Lea Drinda) in the 1940’s, Angelika (Lena Urzendowsky) in the eighties, and Lenka (Laeni Geiseler) in the 2020’s, and although not related, all these young women are connected by a morbid thread that ties them all together.

Schilinski’s film is admirable for being so female centric, spanning history, all within the confines of the same locale.

Each period features a narrative by the female protagonist, as they come to terms with the events they face.

It’s not exactly upbeat or heart-warming, with the common theme of death skewered through it, along with sadistic tendencies, oh and flies and eels. And to that end, it’s emotionally draining, made worse by its two and half hour runtime, so don’t be surprised to find yourself exhausted by the end of it.

It’s also not presented in chronological order, as it flits back and forth between all four time lines. Although this presents a few ahhh moments, when a story plot comes together, but for the most part, the narrative is just too disconnected.

And being so flitty, it makes it difficult to relate to any of the characters, as they come and go, making audiences work fairly hard to continuingly join the dots.

There’s also no getting away from the fact that it’s so darn depressing, completely devoid of any light relief at any point of its timeline, making it quite the trudge.

Schilinski’s direction is assured, but can also come across as a tad pretentious, with the story suffering at the expense of its stylised art direction, and the director’s approach to leaning more into an artistic form of expression, with lyrical and poetic touches, that dampen the narrative.

So much so, that you could be left fairly numb after the experience, that could scar you enough to avoid any family gatherings, cinematic or otherwise, for some time.