16 Best Movies About Dysfunctional Families Update 03/2024

Movies About Dysfunctional Families

To describe the Royal Tenenbaums family in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), “dysfunctional” almost seems like an understatement. The father of the family, Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), treated everyone as if they were trash, yet he did care enough to accompany his grandsons to a dog fight. Generational ties are crucial.

1. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Theft, phony stomach cancer, and killing your own child with a BB gun: To call this family “dysfunctional” is nearly an understatement. The father of the family, Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), treated everyone as if they were trash, yet he did care enough to accompany his grandsons to a dog fight. Generational ties are crucial.

2. Home Alone 2 (1992)

Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) looked to have been abandoned by his family this time around: How could that happen barely two years after the original film? There would be jokes about that for at least a decade if your family made that error.

3. The Godfather trilogy (1972, 1974, 1990)

Despite its reputation as a gangster film, The Godfather is actually a family drama centered on Al Pacino’s character Michael Corleone. Three of Francis Ford Coppola’s movies have enough backstabbing to make even the Real Housewives blush. In a gangster movie, Fredo actually assumed he’d be able to go fishing in peace.

4. Meet the Fockers (2004)

Meet the Fockers (2004)

Were we really in desperate need of a follow-up to the movie about Robert De Niro’s shady father-in-law (who keeps a lie detector in his basement)? Without a doubt, we did not. To be on the safe side, you might as well use Barbra Streisand as Mrs. Focker, a sex therapist who works with the elderly and their caregivers.

5. American Beauty (1999)

This isn’t the place for some silly dysfunction, so don’t bother. Kevin Spacey’s character, Lester Burnham, and his family are dealing with some troubling circumstances. Purchasing a high-end sports automobile and engaging in a little marijuana consumption seems like a no-brainer, right? However, by the time you realize it, you’re a 42-year-old man with a crush on your daughter’s high school classmate (Mena Suvari).

6. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

It’s true that Frank (Steve Carell) is suicidal and Dwayne (Paul Dano) has taken a vow of silence, but this family earned the dysfunctional label the moment they entered their daughter into a child beauty pageant. That’s a surefire way to go insane.

7. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

No tribute to broken families would be complete without mentioning the best-known divorce film of all time, The Parent Trap. However, the show made divorce less of a taboo subject. Meryl Streep won her first Oscar for the role.

8. Nebraska (2013)

This film’s depiction of family dysfunction is what makes it feel so real. A million-dollar lottery “prize” won’t be cashed in by Woody (Bruce Dern), but David (Will Forte) nevertheless drives him halfway across the nation to collect. In addition, David’s mother reveals a photo of her ex-gravestone lover’s in the moving scene. Not intentionally burying the leade.

9. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

If you’ve seen the movie, you might remember how much the Griswolds resemble your own family. Then again, you’re forgetting how many people in this film were almost killed by animals, semitrucks, electrocution, and explosives in this picture. The cat of Aunt Bethany’s has passed away.

10. The Birdcage (1996)

The Birdcage (1996)

When hosting our prospective father-in-law, a conservative senator and co-founder of the Coalition for Moral Order, who happens to be gay, who among us hasn’t requested a parent to pretend to be straight? It’s nearly a cliche to say so.

11. Big Daddy (1999)

In a movie, I could kidnap a five-year-old and still be the hero of the story.

Actor and comedian, Adam Sandler. PS: Big Daddy raked in much over $200 million, and Jon Stewart had an appearance in the film.

12. The Family Stone (2005)

Make yourself feel better by watching this movie when you’re apprehensive about inviting a significant other around for the holidays. When it comes to holiday weekends, you’re not meant to show up with one date and depart with another one. It’s Christmas, not an important event.

13. Raising Arizona (1987)

Raising Arizona (1987)

People who can’t have their own children can argue that it’s immoral to take another person’s baby. But what if you abduct a member of a quintuplet family and hold them ransom? As though you were doing them a service!

14. The Kids Are All Right (2010)

It’s a smart idea to name your child Laser, but that’s just the beginning of one family’s problems. Then, all of a sudden, it doesn’t seem like a good idea for your child to find his biological father. The next thing you know, you’re questioning your sexuality because he owns an ecological restaurant.

15. A Christmas Story (1983)

Despite the fact that they appear to be a typical American family from the outside, they are just as dysfunctional on the inside. Having a marital conflict to end all marital wars is a sure sign that something needs to be worked on in your relationship when your husband brings home a lamp with a fishnet-stocking leg base and proudly displays it in the living room.

16. August: Osage County (2013)

August Osage County (2013)

It’s a typical day at the office for Sam Shepard, Meryl Streep, and Julia Roberts on the set of a film. We’re still baffled as to how they fit in the introduction of everyone’s dark past in just two hours. Imagine what Thanksgiving dinner would be like if you invited everyone you don’t like. That’s how this family gathering is going.