The Last Days of Emma Blank

The country house as a hermetic stage-set for class-based satirical jibes may have fallen out of favour since 'The Party and the Guests' and 'La Grande Bouffe', but Dutch director Van Warmerdam is clearly looking to those movies for inspiration with his latest, 'The Last Days of Emma Blank'. In a remote seaside pile, haughty mistress Emma keeps her staff on a tight leash. Only they're not really staff at all, they're her relations, roped into playing the roles of butler, cook, maid and even family dog for mysterious and sinister reasons. The film sports a good few laughs – mostly at the expense of Theo, the put-upon mutt – and some fine location photography, but its intentions remain vague and its satire diluted and ineffective. Likeable, but hardly essential viewing.