the audience applauded

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Did you ever visit a couple that recently came back from holidays, and who "treated" you on a slide show? This film is likewise: nice and sunny pictures, but uninteresting and uncalled for. The only event that can be construed with some effort as being dramatic, is when a collection of letters is discovered, hidden in a secret drawer by their sister, who secretly exchanges letters with an inmate in a nearby prison. A younger brother who knew about the secret correspondence, catches them on the act when two other sisters read the letters aloud to each other, which may be considered a second semi-dramatic event. Alas, nothing is really done with these elements, which any reasonably competent scenario writer could have turned into something other than portraying a lazy and indolent atmosphere.Similarly, I missed the influence of the fact that the family consists of half-brothers and -sisters, a thing that could have been exploited much better to arrive at a story that is at least interesting or at best memorable. The variety in ages within the group of brothers and sisters is also a missed chance for something to liven up the story. The mother figure is virtually non-existent, apart from handling the laundry or cooking meals. What else could I say to elevate this film above the typical holiday slide show?I saw this film as part of the Rotterdam film festival 2013, where it was part of the Bright Future section. That section mostly has interesting or memorable films to show, but this one does not belong there. The young actors may do a remarkable job and perform very natural, but it does not rescue the film from being negligible and unnecessary.