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!
Happy End (2017)
6.8/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz, Toby Jones, Laura V...
Although a middle-class family living in Calais deal with a series of setbacks, they pay little attention to the grim conditions in the refugee camps... Read more
Step Brothers (2008)
6.9/10
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins, Adam Scott, Kath...
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly had so much fun on 'Talladega Nights' they decided to re-team in this goofball gross-out comedy. They play a couple of... Read more
Smash Palace (1981)
7.2/10
Director: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Bruno Lawrence, Anna Jemison, Greer Robson, Keith Aberdein
Bruno Lawrence delivers an unforgettable performance as Al Shaw, a former pro racer who now operates an auto salvage yard in hicksville. When his wif... Read more
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
7.6/10
Director: Philippe Claudel
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grevill, Fre...
An intricate and intriguing French film that stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette, a woman who has just been released from prison. Lea, her much you... Read more
The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 1 (2006)
9.2/10
Starring: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, Steven Van Zan...
Things are really starting to fall apart as Gene decides he wants to leave the New Jersey mob for sunny Florida, the Feds are hot onTony's trail and V... Read more
City by the Sea (2002)
6.1/10
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: George Dzundza, James Franco, Frances McDormand, Robert De Niro, Eliza Dushku, W...
Veteran Manhattan homicide detective Robert De Niro must confront a tortured family history when the prime suspect in a drug dealer's murder turns out... Read more
The Safety of Objects (2001)
6.6/10
Director: Rose Troche
Starring: Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Jessica Campbell, Patricia Clarkson, Joshua Jackso...
Intricately woven study of family distress from director Rose Troche ("Go Fish") looks at the troubles encountered by four households in the same subu... Read more
The Sopranos: Season 1 (1999)
9.2/10
Director: Alan Taylor, Daniel Attias, Nick Gomez, David Chase, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Lorraine Senna, Tim Van Patten, Andy Wolk, Matthew Penn, Frank Renzulli
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chiane...
Meet Tony Soprano: your average, middle-aged businessman. Tony's got a dutiful wife. A not-so-dutiful daughter. A son named Anthony Jr. A mother he's... Read more
Soap: Season 1, Episodes 1 - 10 (1977)
8.2/10
Starring: Katherine Helmond, Cathryn Damon, Robert Mandan, Richard Mulligan, Diana Canova,...
The controversial sitcom that defined the late '70s and became an instant classic, "Soap" took viewers into the quirky lives of the Tates and the Camp... Read more
The Savages (2007)
7.2/10
Director: Tamara Jenkins
Starring: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman, David Zayas
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman play estranged siblings who are forced to deal with each other when their elderly father's dementia proves too... Read more