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!
Secrets and Lies (1996)
7.7/10
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rus...
A 27 year old black London Optometrist decides to seek out the woman who gave her up for adoption after she was born. The search leads to a surprising... Read more
The Sopranos: Season 5 (2004)
9.2/10
Director: Alan Taylor, Mike Figgis, Peter Bogdanovich, Steve Buscemi, Rodrigo Garcia, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Tim Van Patten
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chiane...
His separation hasn't been working out. His nephew's fiancee has become a distraction. His paroled cousin is giving off bad vibes. His business rival... Read more
The Sopranos: Season 2 (2000)
9.2/10
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chiane...
Tony Soprano's offbeat sister Janice turns up on his doorstep. Loose canon Jackie Aprile is released from prison and comes looking for a piece of the... Read more
Lantana (2001)
7.3/10
Director: Ray Lawrence
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Kerry Armstrong, Rachael Blake
This extraodinary psychological offering intricately meshes the elements of a murder mystery and a searing domestic drama. At the centre of this multi... Read more
The Godfather (1972)
9.2/10
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, John Cazale,...
Francis Ford Coppola's mafioso epic featuring Marlon Brando as the patriarch of the Corleone family. Based on Mario Puzo's novel, it's a masterful ble... Read more
The Human Stain (2003)
6.3/10
Director: Robert Benton
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise
Based on the novel by Philip Roth, this suspenseful drama focuses on esteemed college classics professor Anthony Hopkins and his terrible lifelong sec... Read more
Ma Mere (2004)
5.1/10
Director: Christophe Honore
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Louis Garrel, Emma De Caunes, Joana Preiss, Jean-Baptiste Mont...
Isabelle Huppert plays Helene, a woman who becomes uncomfortably attracted to her teenage son. Following the unexpected death of her husband, Helene... Read more
I Am Love (2009)
7/10
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Marisa Berenson, Tilda Swinton, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Gabriele Ferzetti, Pippo D...
The Recchi family are a well-bred and well-moneyed family of Milan whose lives are grand and cold as a museum - but all that's about to change. Eduard... Read more
CRAZY (2005)
3.7/10
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
Starring: Michel Cote, Marc-Andre Grondin, Danielle Proulx, Emile Vallee, Pierre-Luc Brill...
Zac Beaulieu was born on Christmas Day in 1960 and lives with his parents and four brothers in Quebec. He grows up longing for acceptance from his ho... Read more
Pieces of April (2003)
7.1/10
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes
This intelligent and touching independent comedy stars Katie Holmes as a young woman who attempts to reconcile with her dysfunctional family by making... Read more