And if your teenage daughter knew everything you do?

As children grow and transform into mysterious teenagers, some mothers and fathers may wonder about the strange being that inhabits their home. What are they thinking? What do they do all day? In his second feature film, the German Frédéric Hambalek turns the tables: here it is not the adults who try to unravel the labyrinth of adolescent existence, but rather they are the ones subjected to relentless surveillance and moral examination. Marielle is thirteen years old, and a slap from a classmate gives her telepathic powers: she can suddenly hear every word spoken by her well-off parents, Julia and Tobias, who see how, in an instant, their comfortable existence based on self-deception, double standards, and appearances (fundamental pillars of all adult life) begins to crumble.

The starting point of this synthetic and effective satire on the grand fiction that is the bourgeois family is impeccable, as is the way in which Hambalek controls the tone at all times between black comedy and icy social drama, avoiding the fantastical elements of the plot. It is a shame that the provocation and the disruptive play with gender roles promised by its first scene – a flirtation between Julia and a colleague that turns into a blatant verbal sex scene where she ends up taking control – does not fully materialize in an open and more conservative ending than expected.