Static, pointless and miserable as sin, this pitiful Gallic moan plays like The Royle Family without the laughs.

Still, if you enjoy watching people fall out over dinner or lazing in front of the TV, it’ll be just your tepid cuppa.

The inaction begins when poor Pascale (Huppert, always a fun-free guarantee) suggests she might like to do something with her life beyond cooking for a pair of overgrown adolescents like Thierry (Jérémie Renier of Palme d'Or winner L'Enfant) and Francois (Jérémie’s unidentical twin Yannick).

She’s been dallying with the bloke next door (Cuppens) and wants to flog the house so that they can open a B&B in the country.

But tantrum-tastic Thierry is loath to give up his inheritance and the richly rewarding life he and his brother enjoy. Where else will they find the fulfilment afforded by videogames, riding motorbikes in the mud or shooting rats with air rifles?

Given that the three of them spend rather too much time in the bathroom together, it would probably be healthier all round. It would certainly make it easier on their remarried father (Deschamps), who’s rather tired of playing piggy-bank in the middle.

Something drastic clearly needs to happen for everyone to grow up and start taking responsibility for themselves. Which it does. Only by that time, you’ll be either asleep or wondering whether you remembered to turn the kitchen light off.

“My film is the tale of an explosion in a closed world” claims writer-director Lafosse. Well, it certainly has all the appeal of a fart under the duvet... if not the dramatic impact.

Save the effort by asking the neighbours if you can come round for ten minutes every night for a week. A wet week. Before pay day.

Elliott Noble