It's the contract killer Schneider's birthday today. But he still has a job to perform – kill Mr Bax, a writer. After having been assured that he would be back before noon and manage to help his wife with organizing the party, he agrees to the deal. A festival of ruses, bizarre accidents, bad timings and expensive error unfolds. Warmerdam's dark comedy in the style of malevolent films by the Coen brothers is a brilliant stylistic exercise subverting the thriller genre in a way seen only rarely.

Alex van Warmerdam

This original Dutch artist, with this grotesque film in the dark genre revealing even darker corners of the human character, took part in the competition at Locarno IFF. Since then, the movie on the clash of two failing concepts of family coexistence has been screened at many other festivals including Toronto IFF and has earned seven nominations for the Dutch Golden Calf film award.