For many people, the end-of-year holiday season carries a distinctly spiritual quality. It is meant to slow us down, loosen the grip of everyday pressures, and create space for rest, gratitude, and reconnection. The common rituals of the season, namely shared meals, familiar traditions, and time with loved ones, offer a rare opportunity to step outside work roles and social demands, and to remember what (and who) matters most. At its best, the family holiday is about presence, generosity, and the simple pleasure of being together.

And yet, for all its promise of calm and connection, family holiday reunion meals are also a frequent source of stress, anxiety, and conflict. Expectations run high, old roles resurface, and time together can feel intense, prolonged, and friction-prone.

The reason? Freed from the self-control and impression management that govern everyday interactions, particularly during high-stakes work settings, family members often revert to historical familiar patterns, unresolved tensions, and unfiltered truths. The result is a seasonal paradox: the very closeness meant to restore us can just as easily strain relationships and put our patience to the limit.

Cinema offers some memorable illustrations for the notion that holidays are less about peace on earth than emotional detonation. In

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