A Happy Family Review (2026 Karlovy Vary IFF)
Niki, a mother of two, cannot seem to get anything right. Breakfast is served late, and lunch is packed in frail bags. Her youngest is dressed poorly, and her oldest is treated like a grown-up. All while her salary barely covers her debt installments. For reasons left unaddressed, Niki is on this marathon alone. But there is little doubt as to why child protection services are monitoring the upbringing of Leonnie and Jimmy. Returning home in the early hours after a long shift at her side gig, Niki finds the ashes of a disaster, and her two little pitchers gone with the decision of the state to an undisclosed location.
Fortunately, we meet Niki pretty much at the end of this streak of failures and misconduct. We suffer alongside her the loss of her children over a subsequent series of acts that are induced with kindness, for all the humour that allows us to cast a smile. Niki may not be an exemplary mother, but she definitely has the grit of one. And so she embarks on an extraordinarily unplanned mission to reconnect with Leonnie and Jimmy.
Swiss director Jan-Eric Mack, who shares writing credits with Nikita Afansjew, Eva Kienholz, and Anna Schinz, approaches a very harsh subject (the reality of a single mum) with elasticity and great attention to the surrounding systematic and sentimental landscapes. Together, they uncover a well-hidden tenderness through the people Niki encounters on her way. We do not often see characters of such soft edges without a concomitant satire, and we certainly do not encounter individuals in similar capacities with such consideration in real life. The script suggests delicate treatment, without stretching or exhausting the reality of human kindness to implausible lengths. While tears of sympathy well up frequently, the high tempo—synthesized by the exceptional sound design and score—brings environmental elements into conversation with strings, illustrating phenomenally the sound of the emotional stakes. Anna Schinz, leading the film as Niki, adds spark to this. She also takes it one step further, as it’s through her that the doors stay wide open to rethink what maternal responsibility means.
The title suggests more expansive thematic regards, claiming the undertaking of rearranging what happiness is within a family. Here, one could argue that the elemental needs of growing children are not exactly tantamount to their happiness. Even if the tone of this title, upon encountering it, is not aligned with the actual story, the film naturally resolves itself in its rightful direction, so let’s have this one slide. Or was this deliberately misguiding, forming an ample compromise for the unforeseen variable that could bring audiences, the undersigned included, to a standing ovation?
By and large, A Happy Family effortlessly avoids the sob-story pitfalls that its summary premise deems unavoidable. It is an original and honest piece of work, one that does not shy away from adventure, but does not give in much to the predictable screen satisfaction of family dramas turned to comedies turned back into dramas. Such a self-contained and self-fulfilling achievement!
★★★★★
Premiered at the 2026 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival as part of the Crystal Globe Competition / Director: Jan-Eric Mack / Dir. of Photography: Yunus Roy Imer / Music: Thomas Kuratli / Sound: Gina Keller / Editor: Benjamin Fueter / Producers: Martin Joss, Peter Reichenbach / Production: C-FILMS AG / Switzerland
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