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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!

Ideal Home (2018)

6.6/10
Director: Andrew Fleming
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Jack Gore

Paul and Erasmus are a bickering couple with an extravagant life. When Bill, the grandson Erasmus never knew he had, shows up at their dinner party wi... Read more

Ideal Home (Blu-Ray) (2018)

6.6/10
Director: Andrew Fleming
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Jack Gore

Paul and Erasmus are a bickering couple with an extravagant life. When Bill, the grandson Erasmus never knew he had, shows up at their dinner party wi... Read more

Igby Goes Down (2002)

7/10
Director: Burr Steers
Starring: Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pu...

17-year-old rich kid Igby Slocumb (Kieran Culkin) is a rebel with a cause: to break free from his pill-popping mother, his schizophrenic dad and his f... Read more

Imaginary Heroes (2004)

7.2/10
Director: Dan Harris
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, Michelle Williams, Kip Pardue

A quietly dysfunctional family is forced to re-examine itself in the wake of a tragic event when star athlete Matt commits suicide, leaving his parent... Read more

In My Father's Den (2004)

7.6/10
Director: Brad McGann
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Miranda Otto, Emily Barclay, Colin Moy, Jodie Rimmer, Vicky H...

Paul (Matthew Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred an... Read more

In the Bedroom (2001)

7.4/10
Director: Todd Field
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei

Powerhouse family drama from debuting director Todd Field is set in a small town in Maine where Sissy Spacek, a music teacher and physician husband To... Read more

Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)

7/10
Director: Maya Forbes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana

A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who d... Read more

Infinitely Polar Bear (Blu-ray) (2014)

7/10
Director: Maya Forbes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana

A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who d... Read more

Irresistible (2006)

5.8/10
Director: Ann Turner
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Emily Blunt, Charles Tingwell, William McInnes, Terry...

Sophie (Susan Sarandon), is still struggling with the death of her mother when she becomes convinced that her husband Craig (Sam Neill) and her childr... Read more

Jindabyne (2006)

6.3/10
Director: Ray Lawrence
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, John Howard, Deborra-Lee Furness, Stelios Yiakmis,...

From the director of 'Lantana', this enigmatic psychodrama examines the consequences of the actions of four men who go on a fishing trip and don't all... Read more