An Ode to Dysfunctional Families
As the holiday season looms, many of us stare down the barrel that are family reunions. These reunions are tough for a number of reasons, and as generational divides widen and more people seek out therapy for issues beginning in their own childhoods, spending prolonged time with one’s family feels like a real-life version of The Shining for more and more of us.
Because we know the Holidays can be so tough for some, even when surrounded by family, we’ve choosen to highlight some of the most dysfunctional families in movies. From Cher falling in love with her fiancé’s brother to the scariest character Meryl Streep has ever portrayed to the most infamous family on this list: the Tenebaums. We’ve got the craziest lineup down below.
So before you travel home for the Holidays, or even more daunting, host family, mentally prepare yourself by watching these films as a reminder that it could always be worse.
Addams Family Values (1993)
Proof that a sequel, or younger sibling, can surpass the original. Addams Family Values takes a lighter approach to America’s most dark sided clan. The addition of baby Pubert shakes up the haunted house. Worried, Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Angelica Houston) send their two elder children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsly (Jimmy Workman) away to a wholesome summer camp for a perfectly apt fish out of water side plot.
The real star of this film, besides Angelica Houston’s constant key lighting, is Joan Cusack as the parttime nanny/fulltime black widow Debbie. She seduces Uncle Fester (Christopher Loyd) and thus drives a wedge into the tight knit Addams ensemble. Her cartoonish attempts to kill Fester and make away with his fortune show off her impeccable comedic timing. Overall, it’s a bomb!
Moonstruck (1987)
This movie covers all of Hollywood’s most important themes: love, loss and the pursuit of Cher. After accepting an underprepared marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Loretta Castorini (Cher) seeks out his estranged brother Ronny to invite him to the wedding.
When she finds him hot, young Nick Cage’s one handed sex appeal quite literally sweeps her off her feet. As her own love life becomes more complicated, so does her parents’. Loretta’s mother (Olympia Dukakis) shines tremendously as the heart and soul of this movie, who must slowly come to terms with the fact that her husband is having an affair.
This performance won Cher an Oscar for best actress, and although her Italian accent wasn’t perfect, no one’s ever delivered a more iconic slap in cinema history. If that sounds like an exaggeration, then I implore you to SNAP OUT OF IT.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The only worse idea than locking three generations of family in the dining room for a meal is doing the same in a rundown van for a road trip to California. Young Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) wins the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant due to the first place winner forfeiting her crown over diet pills. The tone only darkens from there.
Her mute brother (Paul Dano), miserable parents (Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette) and filthy grandfather Alan Arkin round out this cast of misfits that makes one relish their own family’s sanity. This remains one of Steve Carell’s best performances, who plays Olive’s suicidal homosexual uncle also along for the ride.
While the film centers on the tension points within the Hoover family, they try to come together for the most innocent member. AThe movie is a sweeter portrayal of familial ties, even if someone’s body ends up in the back trunk.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
It almost feels patronizing to include such an obvious choice, but this movie (and Gwyneth Paltrow’s hair) elicits such a powerful emotional response in tandem with masterful comedic performances by the entire cast.
This is Wes Anderson at his best. A privileged family of geniuses, each in their own right, reunited after years of estrangement and personal devastation. The details of this movie are the biggest delights. Margot Tenenbaum’ adultery, what caused Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) to choke during his final pro tennis match and the root of Chas Tenenbaum’s (Ben Stiller) neurosis are all revealed as they reconcile with their father’s abandonment.
Tie the television to the radiator, soak secluded in the tub and enjoy this masterpiece as an island away from family. It’s a royal respite in a dream — like New York, complete with an unbelievably charming soundtrack.
August: Osage County (2013)
To call this film “a lot” is a gross understatement. With a two hour run -time, massive ensemble cast, and themes of abuse, addiction, incest, and suicide this film can overwhelm an already fragile familial ecosystem. My own mother barely stays in the room past the 45 minute mark of most films, and she’d storm out Violet Weston-style sooner on this one.
Meryl Streep, Margo Martindale and Julia Roberts stand above their castmates as the matriarchs of their families. The pained monologues, while at times a bit of a slog, showcase every ounce of raw talent these women have. In the end, it teaches we can only take so much of each other before hurt rots what should be a sacred bond.
Do not embark on this journey casually. With Meryl Streep’s shrill dissatisfaction at the helm of this movie, it’s sure to be a rocky ride for all involved.
Grey Gardens (1975)
Hysterical is perhaps too apt a description for this documentary. A peak inside the dilapidated mansion of Jacki Kennedy Onassis’ aging cousins Edith Bouvier Beale, and her daughter Little Edie Bouvier Beale.
The filmmakers arrive well passed too late to help either of the women, as they dance, sing and snipe at each other for 95 minutes. A fever dream in sepia tones, the film allows these women to exist on camera. Projecting the lives they long for to the camera, in sharp contrast to the one they live.
Despite everything, there exists a joy to these women unlike anything else as they share pearls of eccentric wisdom. Little Edie’s eccentric fashion and whiny ramblings are that of the crazy aunt I always dreamed of.
Nebraska (2013)
Striking an equal balance between bleak and hilarious, “Nebraska” achieves what so many films attempt. When David Grant (Will Forte) feeds into his again alcoholic father’s (Bruce Dern) delusion that he won a million dollars, life unravels.
Their small town in Nebraska spreads the news too quickly to contain, and David must deal with the fallout. Although the weight of this movie is tangible, David’s mother (June Squibb) delivers comedy in the most unexpected places; namely a graveyard. A true indie darling, and one that’ll make even your own family’s insanity look tame.
If this list can’t manage to make the holidays more bearable for all those involved, consider therapy. Or Lexapro.
