It’s difficult to calm teenagers down. That’s the basic premise of La Mif (The Fam), which, through cyclical chapters, tells the story of the young and mostly female residents and a diverse group of staff living together in a halfway home in Switzerland. Tempers flare as one scandal hits the home and a few more may come. The first of these involves Audrey (Anais Uldry), who is 18 and fraternizes with a much younger male resident.

Each character has their own time to shine, but they’re a part of a bigger tapestry that shows the disconnect between the residents and the staff. One of the staff members explains the Theatre of the Absurd to the residents who are apathetic about the things that happened after the Second World War because they have their own worries. There are ways for younger people to care about things outside of themselves, just not then.

Uldry, Amandine Golay, and Kassia Da Costa are just a few standouts in the younger cast members. The screenwriter gave them a good backbone for the story, but it’s these young actors who show their chops at improvising to make their scenes feel lively. These actors also successfully argue for their characters inconsistences which make sense because people in real life are inconsistent. It’s interesting to watch which characters break rules and who follow them.

Home is where the heart is, but the people living there are the ones most likely to betray each other. Capturing that betrayal requires writing really complex characters who sometimes have the impulse to do the wrong thing. The film uses its almost two hour running time to depict people who make terrible decisions. And it goes without saying that the film makes us root for these flawed characters whom everyone can relate to.

Watch La Mif here.