Phew, that is a mouthful of a title! But also it’s exactly what this rec post is about. The iconic family dinner scene in Hereditary (“I am your MOTHER!”) is often cited as one of the most uncomfortable dinner scenes in film. But I’d contest that it’s not THE most uncomfortable…as evidenced by the following five scenes.
The Boogeyman (1980): A pair of siblings, victims of childhood abuse, struggle to heal as adults…but that’s a bit hard when there’s a very real ghost on their trail. There’s a family dinner scene in this which will ring true to anyone who’s ever suffered through a dinner where everyone talks cheerfully about how delicious the food is while saying absolutely nothing about the mental breakdown someone is suffering right there over the checkered tablecloth. It felt a lot more real to me than the glowering, ominous rage of Hereditary’s scene.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): A group of foolish college students run afoul of a local cannibal family. In this case, the family having dinner are the villains of the piece, and the guest of honor is also the main course! It’s uncomfortable for EVERYONE involved. This recommendation comes with a caveat: an actress was REALLY HARMED during that scene. It’s a deeply unpleasant moment when the screams go from “acting” to “real.” In addition, the conditions during filming were terrible all around. So…this is on the list for being what it is, not necessarily because I enjoyed the movie.
Coraline: A child accidentally enters another dimension with an Other Mother and an Other Father, who want to give her everything her heart desires…if only she’ll let them sew buttons on her eyes and stay there forever. Manages to pull off several successful and increasingly uncomfortable dinner scenes, from the green and slimy dinner in the real world to the ominously enchanting first dinner all the way to the Other Mother’s final omelet. Bonus points for all the food AND DRINK being done in fluid, vibrant stop-motion animation.
A Quiet Place: A family survives an apocalypse on a farm, hiding from alien monsters that hunt by hearing. The dinner scene at the beginning of the movie is utterly haunting. Although the family isn’t at each other’s throats, the dead silence and slow motion as they serve food, say grace in sign language, and eat off of plates made of leaves in an underground bunker is chilling. Their fear is obvious. Despite the gentle soundtrack and soft colors, there is nothing calm or serene about it.
10 Cloverfield Lane: A dinner scene performed by a found family, they have a delicious spaghetti dinner in a bunker as an apocalypse rages overhead. The parody of normalcy and calmness throughout, the volatility of every word, and the uncertain terror of what comes next kept me on the edge of my seat. The kicker here: the real fear isn’t of what’s going on at the surface, but of other people sitting cheerfully at the table.
Food for thought (ha): Do you think these scenes are actually more uncomfortable than the one in Hereditary, or only a different kind of discomfort? What is it about horror around the dinner table that hits so deeply? There are many other movies that use this setting for drama, even beyond horror–why is this such a common way to build narrative tension? Which of these family dinners would you least want to attend?
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Phew, that is a mouthful of a title! But also it's exactly what this rec post is about. The iconic family dinner scene...