The Uncle / Stric
Croatia, Serbia 2022
Directed by David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić, drama, 104 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Written by Andrija Mardešić, David Kapac
With Predrag Miki Manojlović, Ivana Roščić, Goran Bogdan, Roko Sikavica, Kaja šišmanović
Yugoslavia, late 1980s. The parents and their son are hastily making final preparations for the Christmas Eve dinner. Their beloved uncle from Germany is coming for a visit and he will be parking his Mercedes in front of the house at any moment. Everything has to be tip-top and ready for the family reunion. It all looks perfect, except that some things might not be what they seem… This is an unnerving debut à la Haneke, clever balanced on the edge of a farce and an oppressive thriller while ingeniously toying with the narrative structure. The atmosphere of the film, set almost entirely in a single location, is compounded by the compelling performance of Miki Manojlović, the popular Serbian actor, in the role of the uncle.