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!
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
8.1/10
Director: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Anna Lee
This gothic psychological chiller from director Robert Aldrich stars Bette Davis as former child star Baby Jane Hudson, driven by jealousy and dementi... Read more
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
Sorry!: Series 1 (1981)
6.8/10
Director: David Askey
Starring: Ronnie Corbett, Barbara Lott, William Moore
Ronnie Corbett's solo series ran for seven years and features him as the 41-year old Timothy Lumsden. He has a good job as a librarian, plenty of int... Read more
Big Love: Season 3 (2008)
6.2/10
Starring: Bill Paxton, Chloe Sevigny, Harry Dean Stanton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ginnifer Goo...
Passion. Jealousy. Treachery. Greed. Everyone has something to hide in the scandalously entertaining third season of 'Big Love'. Bill Henrickson (Bill... Read more
Everything Put Together (2000)
6.5/10
Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally, Matt Malloy, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Justin Louis
Before 'Monster's Ball', Marc Forster wrote and directed this noir-ish psychological drama about a young mother coming to terms with the death of her... Read more
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
7.8/10
Director: Robert Benton
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jane Alexander, Meryl Streep
Dustin Hoffman must become a single parent when Meryl Streep walks out on their marriage and their young son. A terrific male weepie where Hoffman lea... Read more
Stowaway (1936)
7.2/10
Director: William A Seiter
Starring: Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye, Eugene Pallette, Helen Westley
In this musical adventure Shirley Temple stars as Ching-Ching an orphan on the streets of Shanghai who inadvertently finds herself aboard a ship to Am... Read more
The Vicious Kind (2009)
7/10
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: J K Simmons, Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, Alex Frost
There's nothing like a first love to bring family tensions to a boil in this riveting dark comedy! In a startling performance, Adam Scott stars as Cal... Read more
Nil By Mouth (1997)
7.4/10
Director: Gary Oldman
Starring: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles
Gary Oldman draws on his own dysfunctional working-class London background for his impressive writer/director debut, which casually puts you in the mi... Read more
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
7.6/10
Director: Wayne Wang
Starring: Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu
Amy Tan's sensational bestseller receives first rate treatment from director Wayne Wang as he explores the turbulent lives of four uncompromising Chin... Read more