The Dressel Family: Old-school drama with a sour taste

If you have a thing for black-and-white melodramas where everyone is constantly looking like they are about to faint from emotional exhaustion, The Dressel Family might just be your kind of Tuesday night. It is not for the person who needs a fast-paced plot or anything resembling modern subtlety. If you like your movies to feel like a stuffy parlor room where nobody can speak their mind without a piano playing in the background, you will probably enjoy this.

Friedric is a man caught between two worlds, or at least two very loud women. His mother is the kind of character who practically sucks the oxygen out of every frame she enters. She does not just disapprove of his wife, Magdalena; she treats the marriage like an insult to her entire bloodline.

Magdalena herself is a radio singer, which feels like a very glamorous life choice for this kind of suffocating environment. But then she goes to see her music teacher, Gonzalo, and you just know—even before the letter—that this is going to end in tears. The pacing here is a bit strange. It lingers on hallways and staircases way longer than it needs to, which honestly gives the house a weird, haunted feeling.

There is this one scene where Friedric gets the letter. The way he holds that piece of paper, you would think it was made of lead. It is such a dramatic moment that it almost loops back around to being funny, watching him stare into the middle distance while the camera refuses to cut away. You can almost hear the director yelling for more intensity.

It is not as charming as Mirandy Smiles, that is for sure. While some people might compare it to other family dramas of the era, it lacks that certain spark. It feels more like a chore to sit through sometimes.

The music teacher, Gonzalo, is played with a kind of smoldering intensity that is almost distracting. Every time he hits a note on the piano, he looks like he is about to confess to a murder, not teach a vocal lesson. It is a very specific kind of overacting that I can’t quite decide if I love or hate.

• The house is way too big and empty, which makes the shouting matches echo in a way that feels intentional.
• I spent half the movie wondering why they don't just move out and buy a small apartment somewhere else.
• The lighting in the final act is so dark you can barely see the expressions on their faces.
• There is a distinct lack of humor, which makes the whole thing feel a bit like a funeral.

It is not a movie I would recommend to everyone, but there is something to be said for how seriously it takes its own misery. Sometimes a movie just needs to be a big, messy ball of family drama to be worth a look. Even if it is a bit frustrating.