It’s the ultimate challenge in a divorce or a break-up: doing what’s best for the kids. In Mees Peijnenburg’s simple yet affecting Berlinale Generation 14plus drama A Family – ultimately awarded this section’s Special Mention – this concept doesn’t mean much. Two people who used to be together can hardly be in the same room as each other, let alone notice what their hatred is doing to their two children, teenager Nina (Celeste Holsheimer) and the slightly younger Eli (Finn Vogels). As far as relatable stories go, this one won’t have any trouble finding its audience, as so many people go through the same thing.

Things have got so bad, in fact, that both siblings are already seeing a therapist. “I want a home where I feel good,” says Nina. “I don’t want them to fight,” adds her brother. But nothing will go back to normal any time soon, because their parents (played by Pieter Embrechts and Game of Thrones star Carice van Houten) are just warming up. They go from trying way too hard (suddenly remembering a gift one of the kids wanted so badly) to throwing a fit over an ex-partner being 11 minutes late. It’s supposed to be fair, living in two different places and spending time with both parents, but it just feels exhausting.

Then again, Nina isn’t completely alone. She has a girlfriend – though this particular storyline feels underdeveloped – and suddenly, she’s terrified. What if they end up being just like her parents? “But we are not like them,” she hears. Then again, who really knows?

Peijnenburg does a good job of showing that when adults think they are being discreet, they most certainly aren’t. These kids hear and see everything. They can already tell when the next outburst is coming, but that doesn’t make them any calmer. Their father yells, “Greedy bitch” on the phone, then returns to making small talk and eating chips. When Nina starts getting panic attacks, many viewers may already be experiencing something similar. This is one stressful film.

It also commits to exploring what these two are really going through. At one point, A Family shifts from Nina’s perspective to that of her brother, filling in some gaps but also capturing how terrifying it is to feel hopeless as a child or as a teen. It’s bittersweet because this family can’t be saved and taken back to the way it was before. The best possible outcome is that these siblings, initially rather distant, will eventually learn to find refuge in each other, rather than in their parents. In this acrimonious divorce, they are getting themselves.

A Family was produced by Juliet at Pupkin (Netherlands) and co-produced by The Reunion (Belgium). It is sold internationally by Paradise City Sales.