Dysfunctional Families
Perhaps because it's something nearly all of us can relate to (apart from The Bradys), messed-up families have always been a popular subject for filmmakers in all genres. Whether you're playing it for laughs ('Arrested Development', 'Go For Zucker'), drama ('Kramer vs Kramer', 'Nil By Mouth'), or thrills ('The Quiet Family', 'Olivier, Olivier') the family dynamic is a deep well of ready-made love/hate relationships, seething resentments and hidden secrets. What more could a filmmaker, or a film-watcher, ask for!
100 Feet (2008)
5.5/10
Director: Eric Red
Starring: Famke Janssen, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pare, Ed Westwick
Marnie (Famke Janssen) is in prison for the murder of her abusive husband, but is granted early release on the condition she remain under house arrest... Read more
12 and Holding (2005)
7.6/10
Director: Michael Cuesta
Starring: Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho, Zoe Weizenbaum, Jeremy Renner, Annabella Sciorra,...
Following the tragic death of his twin brother, Jacob and his two close friends, Malee and Leonard, struggle to understand the reasons for his death a... Read more
20th Century Women (2016)
7.4/10
Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Annette Bening, Billy Crudup, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig
In 1979 Santa Barbara, Calif., Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brim... Read more
A Christmas Tale (2008)
7.1/10
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Devos, Hippolyte Girardot, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil...
In Arnaud Desplechin's beguiling concoction, Catherine Deneuve brings her legendary poise to the role of Junon, matriarch of the troubled Vuillard fam... Read more
A Map of the World (1999)
6.7/10
Director: Scott Elliott
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Ron Lea, Arliss Howard, Chlo...
Alice (Sigourney Weaver) and Howard (David Strathairn) have moved to a small town to pursue Howard's dream of owning a farm. An outspoken woman, Alice... Read more
A Song of Good (2008)
5.7/10
Director: Gregory King
Starring: Gareth Reeves, Matthew Sunderland, Ian Mune, Danielle Cormack, Johnathon Hendry
20-something slacker Gary Cradle (Gareth Reeves) has made a pig's ear of his life so far and after a series of botched attempts to get money for drugs... Read more
A Swingers Weekend (2017)
7.6/10
Director: Jon E. Cohen
Starring: Mia Kirshner, Randal Edwards, Erin Karpluk, Michael Xavier, Erin Agostino, Jonas...
Seemingly perfect couple Lisa and Dan plan a steamy swingers weekend. However things go wrong when a third couple drops in unexpectedly. Read more
A Way of Life (2004)
6.7/10
Director: Amma Asante
Starring: Stephanie James, Gary Sheppeard, Nathan Jones, Dean Wong, Oliver Haden, Brenda B...
A moving and unavoidably grim look at the life of a teen mother and her friends who can see no way out of the poverty cycle they are in, though they l... Read more
Abigail's Party (1977)
7.4/10
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Alison Steadman, Tim Stern, Janine Duvitski
Mike Leigh delivers in grand fashion with this acerbic social commentary. Beverly (Alison Steadman) is a gin-sodden shrew with middle-class aspiration... Read more
Accused ( Anklaget ) (2005)
7.1/10
Director: Jacob Thuesen
Starring: Troels Lyby, Sofie Grabol, Louise Mieritz, Soren Malling, Michael Asmussen
Henrik is a swimming teacher whose life is turned upside-down when he is picked up by the police one day following an accusation of incest from his di... Read more