That Time of Year

Paprika Steen’s third film, That Time of Year follows Steen’s Katrine as she and her husband (Jacob Lohmann’s Mads) prepare for a large Christmas gathering of both their respective families – with the narrative detailing the arguments and revelations that crop up over the course of one very long night. Filmmaker Steen, working from Jakob Weis’ screenplay, certainly does an effective job of capturing the chaos of a boisterous family gathering, as the movie boasts a series of characters and performances that, for the most part, feel authentic and real (although Weis and Steen do have a sporadic penchant for emphasizing sitcom-like, cartoonish behavior). Steen’s winning, warm turn as the movie’s beleaguered central character goes a long way towards perpetuating That Time of Year’s agreeable atmosphere, and yet it’s just as apparent that the unapologetically plotless narrative does result in a hit-and-miss, wheel-spinning midsection – with the filmed-play-like bent of Weis’ script certainly compounding the picture’s repetitive and somewhat claustrophobic vibe. And although there are certainly several high points sprinkled throughout (eg an impassioned confrontation between Katrine and her mother), That Time of Year ultimately can’t help but come off as an earnest yet perpetually erratic drama that’s unable to make the emotional impact that Steen is clearly striving for.

**1/2 out of ****