It's Not the Time of My Life

Eszter, her husband Farkas, and their five-year-old son Bruno are paid an unexpected visit in the middle of the night. Eszter’s sister Ernella, her husband Albert and daughter Laura have returned from a year spent in Scotland where, contrary to expectations, they weren’t able to settle down. It soon becomes clear that the two families had never really been in tune with one another. The renowned Hungarian director hails from an impressive generation of filmmaking heavyweights (Mundruczó, Pálfi, Fliegauf) and is probably the least predictable in terms of his formal approach to the given subject matter. Here Hajdu presents an uncompromising, intimate study of two families thrown together by circumstance to temporarily share an unusual apartment; his picture also demonstrates a resolve unencumbered by scruples to get at what are often painful, naked truths about human relationships. This independent movie, outstanding for its inventive production, precisely delineated characters, and performances that get under the skin, draws faithfully on the work of Cassavetes and Bergman.