Gunther Strobbe is a 13 years old boy who lives in his grandmother's house in a small Belgian town with his alcoholic father and three uncles. Life in the household is clearly dysfunctional, yet it's hard to condemn the Strobbes. Their hearts are in the right place – it's just that they can't seem to help turning everything around them into an unmitigated disaster. The Strobbes enter drinking contests, ride bicycles naked, teach vulgar songs to little girls and end up in hospital, then head right back to the bar the next day. Gunther is an observer in this broken home that reeks of cigarette smoke, spilled beer and sweat-stained clothes. He participates in his drunken uncles' shenanigans only to fit in, hiding his true passion for writing. The Strobbes will make you laugh your eyes out and cry out loud.

Awards
Special Mention from the Art Cinema Award Jury - Cannes Director’s Fortnight
Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography - 2009 Hamptons Film Festival
Audience Award in the Bratislava International Film Festival
Selected to represent Belgium in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at the Oscars 2010
#1 box-office success of Belgium for 2009, with 426 000 tickets sold

Festivals
Director’s Fortnight - Cannes Film Festival
Munchen Fim Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
Bangkok International Film Festival
Hamptons Film Festival
Ghent International Film Festival - Opening Film
Warsaw International Film Festival
Pusan International Film Festival
Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montréal
Warsaw International Film Festival
Mar Del Plata Film Festival
Bergen International Film Festival
Mostra Internacional de Cinema de Sao Paulo
Bratislava International Film Festival
Portland International Film Festival
Hong Kong International Film Festival


Reviews

★★★★★ The Ottawa Citizen
★★★★1/2 The Gazette
★★★1/2(on 4) The Toronto Star
★★★★ Eye Weekly, Hour, ICI, LeCinema.ca, Rue Frontenac
★★★(on 4) The Globe and Mail

“A mad Flemish film that must be seen to be believed. So see it." "Out of nowhere, this is one of the film revelations of the year.”
John Griffin, The Gazette

“Comedy doesn’t get any more tragic than this. Wickedly funny one moment and deeply disturbing the next, THE MISFORTUNATES is a coming-of-age tale with a raw difference – so raw that the hilarity melds with the horror until they seem inescapably bound together.”
Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail

“Never deigning to preach or caution, this is a grimy domestic tragedy, nihilist comedy and deepest/darkest diary articulated as a stately epic about the terrible burden of genetic loserdom — held together by beautiful narrated passages...”
Kieran Grant, Eye Weekly

“Van Groeningen has here created a story about family, about fatherhood and masculinity that is deeply troubling but alsovery honest and entertaining. (...) A very strong piece of work.”
Todd Brown, Twitchfilm

“Not since Patrick Swayze let his locks run wild in Roadhouse has there been such a mighty display of mullet excellence as there is in The Misfortunates.”
Jason Anderson, The Toronto Star

The Strobbes “squeeze raw sausage out of its casing directly into their mouths, take pleasure in shooting pigeons, sport identical mullets and firmly believe that fate has placed them on a parallel path in life to Roy Orbison.”
Vanessa Farquharson, The National Post

“It's pretty messed up in its own right, albeit in a much more sweet, romantic, Flemish way. And that's a compliment.”
Melora Koepke, Hour

“What really makes the film work is its grimy, greasy atmosphere; you can practically smell the sweaty hair, spilled beer and poorly maintained outhouses in this glum little town.”
Will Sloan, Exclaim!

“The revelation of the adult Gunther’s thinking and being (...) shows just how subtle this loud, seemingly rough tale really is. Mr. Groeningen wrings a lot of queasy comedy out of the Strobbes for a long stretch, immersing you in their mess, bringing you uncomfortably close to their muck.”
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“...visually robust and often hilarious... ...another ravishing-looking tale of the ordinary lives of extraordinary Belgians.” Boyd Van Hoei, Variety “Under filmmaker Van Groeningen's adroit hand, the technical contributions are a riotous triumph.”
Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

“The casting, mostly of unknowns outside Belgium, works perfectly.”
Dan Fainaru, Screen Daily

“You could call The Misfortunates a bawdy comedy, a touching coming-of-age story or a painful family drama; you wouldn’t be wrong in any case, but you wouldn’t be quite right, either.”
Mark Slutsky, Mirror

“Felix Van Groeningen’s highly entertaining tale is full of hilarity, horror and heartbreak (sometimes within the same scene).”
New York's Time Out

“Deftly mixing the visual exuberance of Trainspotting with the familial pathos of Angela’s Ashes...”
Chuck Wilson, LA Weekly

“It's not often a movie can take you from sweet and charming to sad and depressing then to laugh out loud hilarious and then shift to something quite disturbing. It's even rarer when the movie can do that all that within the span of 3-4 minutes...Repeatedly.”
Bob Turnbull, Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind

“Felix van Groeningen's little film about family loyalty and sacrifice is a skillfully crafted, ardent, working-class addition worthy of representing the brewing nation in this year's race for the best foreign film Oscar.”
Elliot V. Kotek, Moving Pictures

“The Misfortunates is a exceptional film that presents us with a compelling family drama with heart & heartbreak combined in a heart beat. (...) Quirky, honest and tragic The Misfortunates shows us emotional truths be they gritty or tender. It's an astonishing film that I highly recommend.”
Shannon Ridler, Movie Moxie

“Most remarkably, The Misfortunates melds two separate stories and despite utterly offensive behavior on the part of four drunken brothers, never lets you look away. Van Groeningen blends the profane and the heartfelt here, with unique and entrancing results.”
Brad Schreiber, The Huffigton Post