Housekeeping for Beginners (2024)

Housekeeping for Beginners (2024)

At once understated and powerful, this Macedonian drama shines a necessary light on the complexity of found families

7.8

Movie

Australia, Croatia
Albanian, French, Macedonian
Comedy, Drama
2024
GORAN STOLEVSKI
Alina Serban, Anamaria Marinca, Bislim Muçaj
107 min

TLDR

Modern Family 2.0 (Southeast Europe Edition).

What it's about

When her partner Suada (Alina Serban) passes away, social worker Dita (Anamaria Marinca) is forced to become a reluctant mother to her children, plus the outsiders who’ve found their way to Dita’s house.

The take

Only a few people in Dita’s house are related by blood, but you wouldn’t know that by how they move. They’re tight-knit but argumentative, loving at times but spiteful in other instances. In other words, they’re complicated just like any other family. Housekeeping for Beginners makes a compelling case for the validity—and at times necessity—of found families like Dita’s, who all found each other after being shunned by their race and sexuality. As in his previous works, Director Goran Stolevski paints a realistic and relevant portrait here, one tinted with striking pain and poignancy, bound to leave your heart aching long after the credits roll.

What stands out

The naturalism emanating from every frame and every performance, even the one from little Mia (Dzada Selim).

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