Mees Peijnenburg’s new film “A Family” (2026) documents an overwhelmingly emotional chapter in a family’s life, as they process the complications that come with a divorce. The films depicting such stories usually centre around the parents’ trials and tribulations, detailing their wretched emotional state. Take “Scenes from a Marriage” as an example, “A Separation,” or even “Kramer vs. Kramer,” the focus remains on how parents deal with the mess.
Then, there are films like “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Squid and the Whale” that don’t analyze it from a parent’s lens. Yet, the former features grown-ups, and the latter features the outlook of two Brooklynite boys, who cross each other almost like discordant notes and can articulate their qualms like skilled debaters.
Well, not every person processes things the same way, nor can they be as articulate or outspoken as others. That’s what makes Peijnenburg’s film a gently rewarding experience, as it takes us through the minds of two children who struggle to express how they truly feel, even if one doesn’t seem as introverted as the other.
Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” would be a better comparison in that regard, as it depicts the formative years of two children spent in the shadows of their parents’ separation. Peijnenburg and Bastiaan Kroeger’s screenplay captures a similar experience through the lens of a 16-year-old girl, Nina (Celeste Holsheimer), as well as her younger brother, Eli (Finn Vogels), who are on the cusp of facing the effects of things that are beyond their control.
The difference is that Peijnenburg isolates a chapter in their lives during their parents’ custody battle, where the kids get to decide how they would want to spend their future. He begins the film in the cold environs of a legal court, which makes their introduction seem all the more chilling. While in that space, the judge reveals the possibility of their own separation in the wake of their parents’. It can be a hard pill to swallow, even as an adult, which makes us immediately empathize with these teens, burdened with the emotional labor of a premature adulthood.
Peijnenburg’s directorial approach makes a key difference here, as he explores their interiority through a deeply subjective lens. He follows the events since the judge revealed the said possibility from Nina and Eli’s individual perspectives. Some of these incidents intersect, whereas others explore their separate lives, revealing the domino effect of divorce on relationships beyond their interpersonal.
The camera often remains fairly close to the actors, trying to capture every possible nuance from their expression and body language during the characters’ gradual emotional shift. It stays there long enough to register the presence of those minute details, thus allowing their effect linger in our minds till long after. Jasper Wolf’s cinematography and Imre Reutelingsperger’s editing remain crucial in maintaining that unhurried pace. Their work together offers us enough insights into their psyche that are peppered throughout a keenly observed script and deeply felt performances.
Carice van Houten and Pieter Embrechts, with decades’ worth of experience, are present in the cast as the bitter, disgruntled parents. Yet, Holsheimer and Vogels bear the burden of the film’s emotional resonance as our anchors into their turmoil. Well, Van Houten and Emberechts are, of course, reliable in finding all the nuances while playing these parents engaged in psychological warfare, failing to balance their emotional needs with their children’s. They make these characters feel like real people, even through the brief moments they appear in.
Despite their presence, Holsheimer and Vogels ace the challenge to be their acting equals with remarkable skill and patience. They do it with such ease that you almost feel like you’ve stepped into their world, thus suspending your desire to psychoanalyze them and simply being with them. In this case, the camera acts as a tool for investigation and empathy without letting the former outweigh the latter. Nonetheless, the camerawork is dynamic and vibrant when it needs to be, letting those little moments of sparkling joy pop even if they appear in between a peculiarly gloomy part of their lives.
A majority of drama is drawn from the often unnoticed residues of friction from the clash of their personalities. Eli is reserved as opposed to Nina, who is direct and relatively more upfront. That’s why their relationship with Maria and Jacob (the parents) is strikingly different. Peijnenburg handles a delicate balance between their portraits, not letting us judge them simply based on how they appear on the surface.
In line with this, despite Nina’s relative candidness, we get a thorough understanding of her motivations and frustrations as a teenage girl on her journey of sexual exploration, struggling with the loss of a stable and loving family, while only two years shy of adulthood. That’s also why the film’s structure doesn’t feel like a gimmick. It becomes a part of a well-thought-out emotional journey where any moment of potential judgment is followed by an organically placed counter-argument on their behalf.
Those balanced portraits remain critical in a film such as this that explores the aftermath of a divorce through themes of compassion and mutual understanding. The film offers a heartbreaking, intimate account through Nina and Eli’s well-defined arcs, leading to a moment of catharsis. The only issue with the film remains in its final beats.
It’s a gut-wrenching moment, backed by Annelotte Coster’s potent, quietly devastating score, but the writing fails to flesh out Eli’s realization of Nina’s side of the story as much as her acknowledging his. Besides that minor gripe, it’s a beautifully crafted film where style doesn’t outweigh the substance but supports and elevates its resonance.
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