‘We are the family’: low-budget thriller highlights Hungary’s election tension | Hungary

It’s seven o’clock on a Tuesday night and one of Budapest’s most popular movie theaters is packed, not an empty seat in sight. The audience is here not for a Hollywood movie, but for a Hungarian movie with a limited budget.

It Feels Like Home (Itt Érzem Magam Otthon) captivated moviegoers not only with its striking visuals but also with its timing; Its release will take place before Hungary’s crucial parliamentary elections on April 12.

The psychological thriller tells the story of a saleswoman who is kidnapped into a family who follows the orders of Daddy, an authoritarian father figure, and gets privileges if they play by the rules. The main character Rita tries to escape, but realizes that even outside everything seems to belong to the family, so there is no point in asking for help.

Director Gábor Holtai says his intention was not to create a metaphor for life in Hungary under Viktor Orbán, but it was certainly interpreted that way in the heated final weeks of the election campaign.

Critics say the right-wing prime minister has used the last 16 years to take over independent institutions, dismantle democracy and enrich his family and loyalists. But he faces an unprecedented challenge from someone from his circle who has turned against him: Péter Magyar, leader of the newly formed Tisza party.

At the show in Buda, Bea and almost all her friends wear Tisza’s logo on their T-shirts. They see direct parallels between Hungary’s political leadership and the characters in the film.

Sales assistant Bea, 52, said: “At first I was in shock. Because of the brutality shown in the film. They continue to scare people until they do what they are told, until they break. After we got home, I realized that it is we, the other members of the family, who decide our fate.”

Holtai says that this approach does not surprise him: “This is a completely natural connotation for Hungarian audiences. We did not write the film for this purpose, but of course we expected the connotations given the current political climate in Hungary.”

Holtai added that Hungarians were not the only ones who saw a political message in the film. “It was interesting to see that when we showed this film in countries with dictatorial regimes in their history, audiences immediately began to wonder how the past is reflected in the present and to what extent it is present in their lives today.”

Feels Like Home did not receive any government funding and had a minimal PR budget. The actors shared their premiere dates on their social media accounts and the film was a great success through word of mouth. Many members of the cast are openly vocal about their criticism of Orbán, perhaps solidifying the film’s political subtext to viewers.

The actor, who plays Rita’s kidnapper Áron Molnár, is known for his harsh criticism of Orbán’s government in short satirical videos on Instagram. He mocks not only politicians but also influencers who repeat Orbán’s narrative.

Molnár held a heated public meeting with a senior figure from the prime minister’s populist party after his comments about Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy triggered his anger.

Alexandra Szentkirályi, Fidesz’s president in Budapest, posted on Facebook: “You are not a good enough actor to play an energy lawyer who has no knowledge of the subject. How can you sink so low in hatred for your own country and its people?”

Gellért Kovács, independent film critic and writer for the Hungarian magazine NLC, said that there are several reasons for the success of Feels Like Home: “First of all, it is a great film and, compared to other Hungarian films, it is rare to find a film that meets the Hollywood standards that people expect from a psychological thriller. And it is an allegory of the situation that has always existed in Hungary. It highlights certain archetypes through its characters.”

The film industry has felt the impact of the Orbán government. It controls the National Film Institute (NFI), an institution that finances films mostly aligned with Fidesz ideology.

Kovács said that a new genre of films has emerged in the last three or four years, “born out of necessity, pain and despair” and created without state film subsidies. He added: “It holds a mirror to the film industry distributed by NFI. These films have the capacity to have a bigger impact than those made with budgets in the billions.”

Róbert returned to the cinema in Buda to watch it for the second time in a week. “This is a movie that keeps you thinking for days. It really stays with you,” said the 73-year-old retail company employee. He said he was disappointed by the political climate in Hungary: “Because they managed to divide this country; this is an interesting situation. Let’s see what happens.”