Dinner With My Family

A young woman murders her family during the Christmas holidays.

It is Christmas and it is snowing and Christina is celebrating in her decorated home. However, she has just killed her mother (Facinelli), her father (Wayne Thompson) and her brother (Ryan Kerr) in a rather grisly manner and has placed their bodies on chairs, at the dining table, next to each other. She has dressed up and pretends (or really believes?) that she is celebrating the holiday with her loved ones, sitting at the table with them, talking to them like they were alive, smiling at them and enjoying some wine and food. Then, she has an unexpected visitor: a young criminal (Anderton), who has just murdered someone and is on the run from the police. After he takes refuge in Christina's house, she invites him to join her.

This short horror thriller film has quite a plot: it is night-time and a woman is at home with three dead bodies and another murderer enters the scene and the two of them end up building an awkward rapport between them. The majority of the story involves the conversation the two killers have, sitting at the dining table, the corpses next to them. This extraordinary interaction will lead to talks regarding why they committed their heinous crimes, the stranger enquiring about Christina's methods when it comes to killing and the two of them discussing what they are going to do next. Basically, this is a fateful night, a night that changes the lives of the two protagonists forever. Of course a plot that involves dead bodies is sinister, however the screenplay does add dark humour.

Why did Christina do this vile act? A flashback reveals that her father was violent and that might suggest that she either resorted to murder to save herself from further torment or that the constant suffering caused her to develop mental issues. The theory that she is mentally unwell is quite plausible considering that she killed people and talked to their bodies.

The opening title card should be acknowledged due to the creativity. The title appears on a black background and behind the letters is a blood spatter. This is accompanied by Khaled Mandi's sinister score, the sound of police sirens and heavy breathing (probably Anderton's character). The visual and acoustic aspects of this sequence set up the atmosphere rather effectively.

As mentioned above, Christina ends the lives of her relatives in horrible ways and praise goes to make-up artist Wayne Thompson for the work done in order to show the result of the killer's actions.

In some ways, this is a Christmas film, although one that is unlikely to encourage a festive mood. It is a story about murder that also examines mental health and domestic violence. It is certainly one that catches the viewer's attention due to the intriguing plot.