Broken crockery, metal in a microwave and a vase too close to the edge all hint at a breaking point, but this is also a film of metamorphoses; the fat caterpillars in the kitchen are not the only creatures here that are slowly shifting shape. There may be no spiders here, but the web of connections is laced like an invisible, quivering trap.
New rebellions look set to prise open old war wounds, liaisons threaten to be dangerous. Other animals drift in and out; a sea squirt which no longer has the brain to move, a curious dog and a roly-poly rat. Two more creatures get trapped, meeting very different fates, as Zurcher invites us to join the dots between the human and animal kingdoms.
The potential for violence is rooted in the everyday: splashes of blood are joined by sploshes of ratatouille, one knife carves a sweet peach swan, another beheads a chicken. The largely fixed camera employed by cinematographer Alex Hasskerl helps to emphasise the hubbub of the house. We see the various members pass each other in the physically tight confines of the hall, and have an opportunity to drink in the body language as the clan take on various jobs in the kitchen.
All the micro-motivations and manipulations of life are present, from the desire to be loved and look after others to the urge to tear down a carefully constructed emotional wall. Karen and her shifting perspective are key. Zurcher audaciously breaks her free from the domestic in a powerful dreamlike sequence that speaks to her deepest fears and desires, and briefly moves the action into full-blown horror territory, as the previously spare score from Balz Bachmann also amps up. Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry.
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