a family movie review 2021

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Review: “A Family” Shows the Yakuza Aren’t so Glorious Anymore

Now on Netflix, Japanese film “A Family” offers a refreshingly realistic look at the yakuza’s waning status.

By Anthony Kao , 28 Jun 21 07:27 GMT

Today, Japan’s yakuza organized crime groups are in decline . Membership has plummeted to historic lows, and most remaining yakuza are over 50 years old . While yakuza narratives have historically played a significant role in Japanese entertainment , Japan’s cinematic industry has lagged in depicting these gangsters’ new, downtrodden reality—until now.

Recently released on Netflix, the 2021 Japanese movie A Family (also known as Yakuza and the Family ) begins as a stereotypical yakuza blockbuster—with themes of violence, honor, and revenge. However, it eventually morphs into a surprisingly realistic portrayal of how the yakuza have shriveled in the face of new anti-gangster laws passed in the 2010’s . In this sense, A Family brings a breath of fresh air. Unlike most other yakuza films of the past decade, it doesn’t just cater to genre fans—it also helps broader audiences examine the complex realities of contemporary Japanese society, though deficient character development prevents the film from reaching its full potential.

Boy Joins Gang

A Family begins in 1999, with a blonde-haired teenager named Kenji Yamamoto (Go Ayano) stumbling into his father’s funeral. We learn that Kenji’s father died of a drug overdose; resolving to never become like his old man, Kenji and two of his friends steal drugs from a street dealer and throw them into the ocean. This catches the attention of a local yakuza syndicate run by the middle-aged Hiroshi Shibasaki (Hiroshi Tachi)—who recruits Kenji and becomes his new father figure.

The film then jumps to 2006. By this time, Kenji has become a trusted acolyte in Shibasaki’s organization, and is trying to initiate a romance with a bar hostess named Yuka. Alas, a classic yakuza territorial dispute breaks out; motivated by a combination of loyalty, honor, and vengeance, Kenji gets embroiled in a violent incident that lands him a 14 year stint in prison.

Fast forward again to the film’s final section. It’s 2019, and Kenji has returned from prison. He tries reconnecting with Shibasaki, Yuka, and his old gang mates—but finds that the world has changed in the wake of anti- yakuza measures that were passed during his incarceration. Amidst this new reality, Kenji must rediscover meaning and belonging for his life.

A Shaky Start

The first two parts of A Family aren’t particularly remarkable, though dedicated gangster movie fans may still find enough to satisfy themselves. While the cinematography is competent, and even distinctive in a few moments (ex. vertically panning drone shots across bleak industrial cityscapes), the narrative—of young guy joins gang, gang gets into turf wars, turf wars lead to bloodshed—is predictable.

Character relationships within these two initial portions also feel somewhat choppy. Despite saying he’ll be Kenji’s “father figure,” Shibasaki doesn’t demonstrate any meaningful bond with Kenji beyond cursory conversations in the yakuza office or on car rides. Kenji’s romance with Yuka feels even more stilted. Yuka at first rejects Kenji’s awkward advances, but eventually gives in and becomes a figure of comfort for Kenji during a tragic moment. It’s never apparent why she warms up to him though, though the fact that she does proves convenient for A Family ’s third act.

Fighting Before Learning

This last act is where A Family becomes worth paying attention to.

Starting in the early 2010’s , Japan’s local governments began passing yakuza exclusion ordinances that prohibited regular citizens from doing business or otherwise engaging with the yakuza . These laws severely curtailed the yakuza ’s commercial operations and personal lives. Yakuza gangsters could no longer acquire cell phones, rent property, open bank accounts, or even get pizzas deliveries, without attracting official sanction.

More significantly, these regulations have solidified public sentiment against the yakuza . Rather than romantic anti-heroes of cinematic lore, the yakuza have become outcasts, ostracized by not only businesses but also family members unwilling to risk guilt by association. Even those who quit the yakuza are still subject to the exclusion ordinances for five years thereafter, making social reintegration difficult. With all these restrictions, it’s no wonder the yakuza aren’t getting any new recruits—and dying out at an even faster pace than Japan’s already super-aged society.

A Family ’s third act depicts the effects of these anti- yakuza laws with greater detail than any major Japanese movie thus far.

When Kenji returns from prison in 2019, someone else has to buy a cell phone for him, and his previous status within the yakuza is for nought. Shibasaki’s top lieutenants are now destitute; with better income sources no longer available, they’ve become drug mules and illegal fishermen in order to make ends meet. One of Kenji’s closest friends has left the yakuza , and isn’t faring much better. Because of rampant discrimination against former gangsters, that friend can only find work at a toxic disposal site; he fears that colleagues’ errant social media usage may expose his past, and destroy the fragile new family life he’s been able to build.

This last act also shows how, in the wake of these ordinances, crime has simply morphed into other forms. A Family shows how Tsubasa, a young boy that Kenji doted on back in 2006, grows up to be a digitally savvy hangure (roughly translated as “gray zone misfit”) in 2019. In real life, as the yakuza ’s presence shrivels, this new generation of hangure have filled the void . This has led some analysts to question whether the exclusion ordinances are actually making Japan safer.

Bygone Glory

As the first major, internationally streamable movie to address the yakuza ’s waning influence, A Family is a valuable addition to discourse around Japanese organized crime. While 2020 indie film Under the Open Sky also broaches this reality, it is far less accessible and lacks international distribution. Otherwise, Japanese cinema is still stuck with a surfeit of mediocre yakuza franchise sequels that don’t advance anybody’s social consciousness.

Thus, it’s a missed opportunity that A Family doesn’t have better character development. While factual and novel in its portrayal of anti- yakuza ostracism, the film lacks an emotional punch, and falls short of its title’s ostensible promise to discuss the nature of “family.” By fleshing out Kenji’s relationships more, A Family could’ve made audiences better empathize with his reintegration plight, and more deeply examine whether Japan’s approach to yakuza eradication needs reform.

It will be up to other films to advance that conversation—but at least A Family has opened the door.

A Family (Japanese: ヤクザと家族 The Family; alternate English title: Yakuza and the Family) —Japan. Dialog in Japanese. Directed by Michihito Fujii. First released January 29, 2021 in Japan. Running time 2hr 16min. Starring Go Ayano, Hiroshi Tachi, Machiko Ono.

A Family is available for streaming on Netflix worldwide.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘A Family’ on Netflix, Tracking A Yakuza Gangster’s Search For Self-Fulfillment

Where to stream:, stream it or skip it: 'chastity high' on netflix, about a japanese high school where relationships are banned and the girl who takes advantage of it, stream it or skip it: 'pachinko' season 2 on apple tv+, continuing the sprawling story of one korean family and its struggle to succeed in japan, 11 best new movies on netflix: august 2024's freshest films to watch.

A Family (Netflix), from writer and director Michihito Fujii, is a subdued blend of yakuza genre filmmaking and familial drama, exploring the bonds of companionship for those living outside of societal norms — orphaned gangsters, crime bosses in their insulated lairs, and red light district workers who just want something more, for something in life to matter.

A FAMILY : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: 1999. Late to his father’s funeral, Kenji Yamamoto (Go Ayano) wears his bleach blonde mop with apathy and bloody knuckles with misplaced bravado. Aimless, and with no family left, Kenji commits penny ante crime on the streets of industrial Aichi prefecture, and eventually drifts into the orbit of local yakuza boss Shibazaki (Hiroshi Tachi), a gallant, old-school gangster with the usual coterie of flunkies in garish suits. Shibazaki takes “Lil Ken” under his wing, and before long it’s 2005, and the former street punk has emerged as a trusted lieutenant. Kenji is devoted to the paternal Shibazaki, and his fellow yakuza are his de facto family. The gangster life has given him purpose, but there’s still torment inside his soul.

Shibazaki’s gang has a part of the graft in town, and a rival yakuza group controls another. It’s the usual chest-thumping and territorial quarrelling, with the law, led by Osako (Ryo Iwamatsu), as grudging intermediary. The cops and the city want the yakuza elements gone, and a burgeoning economy is squeezing their traditional means of generating income. Turf battles and tough talk lead to an attempt on Shibazaki’s life, a transgression Kenji cannot abide by, and he takes the fall for the murder of a rival henchman, even as he’d finally found a woman who’d tolerate and push back against his brusque nature. Yuka (Machiko Ono) is left only to watch a news report about Kenji’s arrest.

Flash forward 15 years. Kenji did his bit and kept his mouth shut, but he’s back on the outside to discover a landscape wholly changed. The boss is a shell, dying of cancer, and the yakuza are dying off, too. “The laws around cell phone contracts make buying a phone a pain for yakuza,” an underling tells Kenji. The clubs they once ran are closed; society has moved on. And so has Yuka, though she’s ashamed to admit she still carries a torch for her mobster true love. Kenji, now an outcast, wanders the streets as a gangster without a home, without criminal means, and worse, without his adopted family. “I thought about dissolving it,” his boss, his surrogate father, tells Kenji from his hospital bed. “But for the guys who can only live as yakuza, who would be willing to save them? In the end, duty and honor can’t beat money.”

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? As yakuza genre films go, Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage trilogy, beginning with the first film in 2010, is fascinating in its manner of subverting the standards of the style while at the same time elevating the formative parts. The 2017 film Lost Girls & Love Hotels , meanwhile, offered a different take on companionship amongst people shut out by Japanese society, not only yakuza gangsters but expatriates and unmarried professional women.

Performance Worth Watching: Go Ayano (Rage) carries A Family wonderfully, effectively transporting Kenji’s quaking internal self from late-1990’s street punk through 2000’s suited up Yakuza soldier and onward to 2015, when he’s the last gangster standing in a world that’s moved on from his ilk. Ayano adopts a deceptive hangdog stance for Kenji, with only the occasional brush of a grin across his standard mask of dejected indifference. But we see his sense of honor, and feel it when it’s trampled on.

Memorable Dialogue: Osako, the Organized Crime Bureau detective who is a deft, cynical player of both sides, tells the fatherly boss Shibazaki how it is, and how it’s going to be. “It is no longer just the role of the police and the law to punish the Yakuza. The entire world will exterminate you.”

Sex and Skin: The Yakuza are washing in a bath house, their irezumi tattooing on full display in this private place, away from society, among their criminal family.

Our Take: “How do the yakuza live? Why do they wear sunglasses at night? Call each other ‘boss’ and ‘brother’ like that? I never thought I’d meet the real thing.” Kenji likes Yuka because she freely chides his self-serious nature, and the trappings of gangsterdom. She isn’t intimidated, and instead offers him what he’s always craved: true kindness, and a regular-type life. Sure, Kenji found a father of sorts in the form of Shibazaki, but even the boss understands that the yakuza gang’s familial structure is largely a falsehood, a lie constructed to justify the criminal’s place in the social hierarchy. And when Kenji discovers that contemporary society has moved on from organized crime, it’s the purity and promise Yuka represents that Kenji is most ashamed of staining. In its last section, as the defrocked gangster walks the streets as a pariah, the notes A Family has been playing since the beginning become the most resonant.

Michihito Fujii’s film might heap on the sentiment, but it also doesn’t shy away from the jarring violence that’s a yakuza genre hallmark. Brandished baseball bats and knives plunged into stomachs accompany the criminal element as much as their ever-present cigarettes and rings of acrid smoke. Equating these two sides — a life of crime versus everyday existence — Fujii uses the landscape of industrial Japan as a binding agent, framing smokestacks as forlorn towers to progress, and employs tons of natural light to lend internal spaces a sense of confinement longing to be free. The bonds of family, formed and broken and formed again, are conveyed here with a wonderful feel for how sacred and fragile those bonds truly are.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While A Family is steeped in yakuza genre machismo, Michihito Fujii’s film is really a meditation on the concept of family as a basic human need.

Should you stream or skip Michihito Fujii's #AFamily on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) June 20, 2021

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

Watch A Family on Netflix

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Home » Endings Explained

A Family ending explained – will Kenji keep his honor?

This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film A Family, so this will contain major spoilers. Netflix’s A Family, originally titled Yakuza and the Family , was written and directed by Michihito Fujii ( The Brightest Roof in the Universe). Ready Steady Cut film critic, M.N. Miller, called Fujii’s film “A killer gangster epic!”

Netflix’s A Family ending explained.

Fujii’s film is much more than a crime thriller. It takes place for over twenty years. Each person’s choice is like the waters that flow over and shape rocks in a stream for decades and affect generations. By the film’s bloody conclusion, Kenji (Go Ayano) has decided to put an end to it all. He doesn’t want to see the little boy, Tsubasa (Hayato Isomura), who he had doted on as a small child, make the same mistake he did by avenging his father.

So, the love of his life, Yuka (Machiko Ono), leaves him. She also takes the daughter he just found out about and was conceived the day before he went to prison. He now takes matters into his own hands. Kenji beats Tsubasa to the restaurant where the head of organized crime, Detective Osako (Ryo Iwamatsu), tells him where the killers are. He beats them to death with a baseball bat, ending the Yakuza cycle of violence before it consumes Tsubasa from having a life of his own.

Kenji, bloodied, sitting on a dock overlooking the water, is about to leave when someone violently stabs him with a sharp katana. Kenji is done for, but we still don’t see the man’s face until it is finally revealed; it’s Hosono ( Yakuza Apocolypse’s Hayato Ichihara). Why did he kill his friend? Because he spent five years after leaving the Yakuza struggling, then he built himself a normal life. What these men could never have and now regret, deeply. When Kenji came back, someone took a picture of them and put it on social media to see with a headline about the former gangsters are now working stiffs. This caused great shame for Hosono’s wife. She leaves him and takes his child with her.

What Happens Next

Tsubasa leaves flowers on the dock, mourning the only father figure he has ever known. When a young woman comes up and asks him if he knew her father. Tsubasa is taken back by this, and it dawns on him who she is. He finally realizes what Kenji did. He stopped the cycle of endless violence. This now only allowed him to lead a Yakuza-free life but Kenji’s daughter as well.

Article by Marc Miller

Marc Miller (also known as M.N. Miller) joined Ready Steady Cut in April 2018 as a Film and TV Critic, publishing over 1,600 articles on the website. Since a young age, Marc dreamed of becoming a legitimate critic and having that famous “Rotten Tomato” approved status – in 2023, he achieved that status.

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A Family Movie Review: Fujii and Ayano come together to create an intensely brilliant film

Rating: ( 3.5 / 5).

Michihito Fujii’s Japanese crime drama is long and intense. The psychological intensity of many of its finest moments takes you back to The Godfather . It is safe to surmise that the latter made an impression on the director at some stage in his life.

It is 1999 and 19-year-old Kenji Yamamoto finds himself at the centre of a turf war between two opposing crime syndicate groups of the Yakuza. The recent loss of his father doesn’t stop the aimless teenager from seeking out trouble. The senior Yamamoto used to be a highly respected figure, and the surname is given due deference in most circles. A chance encounter at a local restaurant with an infamous crime boss by the name of Hiroshi Shibazaki is to change his life as he knows it. Kenji saves Shibazaki’s life when the latter and his entourage are ambushed by a rival group. The teenager receives an offer to join their business, but he flatly refuses. Days after saving Shibazaki’s life, Kenji finds himself in more strife as he steals drugs and money from a dealer on the street. Unbeknownst to him, the man he stole from works for the same group that barged into the restaurant the other night. Kenji splits the money with his two scooter-riding friends and disposes of the narcotics. The trio is picked up and tortured, but as soon as they realise the boy knows Shibazaki, they let them go. Kenji is taken in by Shibazaki and is formally initiated into the Shibazaki-gumi, Shouou-kai.

Director – Michihito Fujii

Cast – Go Ayano, Hiroshi Tachi, Machiko Ono, Yukiya Kitamura, Hayato Ichihara, Hayato Isomura

Streaming On – Netflix

Shibazaki is an old-fashioned Yakuza. He lives by the code of honour, loyalty and sacrifice. Under his leadership, the group (akin to a family with strong ties) is not permitted to deal in drugs and other vices. This is diametrically opposite to his younger and more hot-headed enemies. Cut to 2005, and the once-rebellious and directionless Kenji has transformed into one of the most trusted lieutenants of the Shibazaki-gumi. A personal favourite of Shibazaki, he is referred to fondly as Lil Ken. All is relatively well until a hit is ordered on his boss, and a close aide dies in the assassination attempt. Lil Ken is beside himself. Against the old man’s orders, he assassinates the rival group’s lieutenant, and is sent to prison.

The first half of the film is a bit predictable but effective, no doubt. Its pacing, dark imagery, and violence are all on point. The audience is provided with a deep dive into the Japanese underworld and the time-honoured traditions by which a prominent Yakuza family lives. But it is the second half that makes A Family truly memorable. The shift in the times is captured so melancholically by Fujii. After a prison sentence of fourteen years, Lil Ken is now thirty-nine. Though he is welcomed with open arms by the family, he soon finds out his father-figure boss is dying of cancer. The woman he once loved has vanished. The Yakuza is no longer what it used to be; so much so that members of the Shibazaki-gumi have resorted to making money from narcotics behind their boss’s back. This stage of the film is all about Kenji’s redemption. Shibazaki’s prophetic words to his protégé reverberate as he tells his ward to leave the Yakuza. “You still have time to do it over.” But that’s the thing about the mafia. It’s never ever a clean slate, even once you exit. Chances of leading a regular existence are next to nil. Old friends and lovers treat you as persona non grata, and honest work is hard to come by.

This melancholia Kenji feels - his best days snuffed out in prison - we feel too. And what accentuates the aforementioned mood is a supremely powerful classical score. The montages of the sea and the sky as he roams the streets for answers are quite breathtaking too. The most poignant part of the film involves a long voicemail Kenji sends to Yuka, doubling as a voiceover across scenes. The ‘what if’ and ‘all that might have been’ questions are so intense and sad that they brought a tear to my eye. What hits you the hardest is when he says, “I’m sorry for everything. It’s my fault all this happened. Even though it was brief, I was so happy to be able to live...even if it was just for a short time. I wanted to live a normal life. I wanted to work hard and become a proper human being.”

In Go Ayano’s Kenji Yamamoto we see the same human frailties as those of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone. Deeply violent, dangerous and ruthless he may be, but his need for redemption is even greater. And that’s why his antiheroic character is one worth investing in and rooting for, even.

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‘A Family’ Summary & Ending, Explained – Who Killed Kato?

A Family Yakuza and The Family 2021 Film Michihito Fujii

A Family (also titled Yakuza and The Family ) follows a Yakuza (gangster) life and his allegiance towards his boss, who brought him up as a father figure. Fujii Michihito’s narrative captures a captivating father-son relationship, tracing the rise and fall of the Yakuza empire in Japan. Thematically, it explores the meaning of loyalty and a man’s pledge to safeguard his extended Family.

‘A Family’ Plot Summary

In 1999, Kenji Yamamoto’s father, Masaharu, jumped into the ocean because he had no money for drugs. The tragedy devastated Kenji “Lil Ken,” who started resenting drugs. In his youthful rage, he brawled with a local drug dealer who worked for Kato, lieutenant of the Kyoyo-kai. Ken wanted to do good in life and not end up like his father.

In his efforts, Ken saved the life of Head Yakuza, Shibasaki Hiroshi. When Shibasaki offered him to become a part of the syndicate, Ken refused without considering. He didn’t want to join any mafia gang. However, Kato came out looking for Ken to recover his lost crystal meth. Kato was about to kill Ken when he found Shibasaki’s business card in Ken’s pocket. Kato believed Ken was a Yakuza.

Shibasaki paid Ken’s debt and saved his life. He later asked a blood-stained Ken if he wanted to stay. A ritual ceremony accepted Ken as a Yazuka and made him a part of the Shibazaki-gumi family. Hiroshi accepted Ken as his legal son.

Throughout the years, till 2019, Ken pledged loyalty towards the Yakuza gang. He did everything in his power to curb the rivals Kyoyo-kai and protect Hiroshi at all costs. The film further portrays his journey witnessing the modernization and fall of the Yakuza Empire in Japan.

‘A Family’ Ending Explained

In 2005, the rivalry between Shibazaki-gumi and Kyoto-kai intensified due to the redevelopment of the Kitaguchi area. A small bout between Ken and Reji (Kyoto-kai member) led to an attack on Shibasaki Hiroshi. In the assault, Ken saved Hiroshi but lost his friend, Ohara. Ken was burning with a vengeance, but Hiroshi suggested that the matter should be resolved by the police. Hiroshi didn’t want to further complicate the rivalry.

Even after the orders, Ken wasn’t able to contain his fury. Fuming with anger, he stabbed Reji and went to jail for 14 years. When he was released in 2019, the situation of organized crime had changed drastically. Yakuza was running low on income and boss Hiroshi was suffering from Cancer. The death of the leader and the gang was inevitable. In addition, many members left the gang because of an ordinance issued 8 years ago. Many Yakuza lived their life in hiding and despair.

Ken tried to meet his love, Yuka, and found out that he has a 14 years old daughter. In the end, a conflicting question was put in front of Ken. Whether to continue a life of despair as a Yakuza or choose the ordinary boring life without it and stay happily with Yuka and his daughter. On his deathbed, Hiroshi asked Ken to leave the gang. Ken left Yakuza, but society wasn’t ready to accept him.

Due to her relationship with Ken, Yuka was expelled from her government job. She resented Ken. Ken was in a fix. He didn’t know what to do with his life anymore. In those moments, Tsubasa, son of Aiko and Kimura, told Ken that he had found his father’s murderer. Ken found a pursuit to follow.

In 1997, Kimura worked for Shibazaki-gumi. He was killed by the Kato and Kyoto-kai gang, similar to the murder of Ohara. Ken joined the gang in 1999 and thus had no idea about Kimura or his murderers. In 2019, Kimura’s son, Tsubasa, became a low-life punk who saw Ken as an aspirational figure. Influenced by Ken, Tsubasa decided to avenge his father’s murder from Kato and corrupt police chief Kazuhiko Osako. Ken could foresee another Yamamoto in the making.

Before Tsubasa could reach Kato, Ken thrashed Kazuhiko and Kato with a bat and killed them on the spot. When Tsubasa reached the dining hall, his father’s murderers were already dead. Symbolically, Ken took his revenge on Kato and saved Tsubasa from living the life of a sinful assassin.

In the end, a closing montage depicted Yaku leaving the city and Hiroshi leaving the world. The two people Ken loved the most left him. A blood-stained Ken was stabbed to death by his best friend Hosono near the ocean. Hosono despised Ken for bringing the “Yakuza shame” to his life again. He was running away from the tag for 5 years, and Ken spoiled everything.

However, Ken didn’t hate his friend for stabbing him. In return, Ken hugged Hosono, offering “final goodbye.” Tsubasa brought flowers to Ken’s oceanside grave and met Yaku’s daughter. She was curious about the life of her late father, Kenji Yamamoto. A moist-eyed Tsubasa was ready to narrate the fable of his beloved hero. Lil Ken was made immortal by the stories.

A Family (also titled Yakuza and The Family ) is a 2021 Japanese Crime Drama film written and directed by Michihito Fujii .

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A Family (2021)

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A Family (2021), My Review

I found A Family such a refreshing film. It's not perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot. Have you guys seen it? Here's my review: https://ssambapbap.com/2023/02/06/a-family-2021-review/

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ヤクザと家族 the family.

Directed by Michihito Fujii

I didn't have a father or a mother, but I had a family.

Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times.

Go Ayano Hiroshi Tachi Machiko Ono Yukiya Kitamura Hayato Ichihara Hayato Isomura Shinobu Terajima Ryutaro Ninomiya Taro Suruga Ryo Iwamatsu Shun Sugata Suon Kan Kosuke Toyohara Rina Komiyama Goki Maeda Akito Fujii

Director Director

Michihito Fujii

Producers Producers

Junko Sato Keizo Okamoto Michiaki Tsunoda

Writer Writer

Cinematography cinematography.

Keisuke Imamura

STAR SANDS KADOKAWA

Releases by Date

13 nov 2020, 29 jan 2021, 18 jun 2021, releases by country.

Digital MA15+ Netflix
Digital 16 Netflix
Digital Netflix
Theatrical PG12
Premiere Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
Digital 15 Netflix
Digital R Netflix

136 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½

An intriguing saga/yakuza film that essentially divides into three acts to portray the evolution of these criminal organizations and its impact on their members through time. The film has periods of action and excellent violence, like many of Kitano's films, but towards the end, we can see that the social and personal drama is the film's main focus, and this is where the picture really shines. The camerawork and photography seldom take these angles, and that helps establish a closeness with the characters.

Much of this bond is formed and ensured by the performances of all, especially that of G Ayano's Yamamoto, who in many ways acts as our point of view. The actor captures both his youthful exuberance and…

Review by nick atkinson ★★★★

The first half is quite average. It didn’t really tell us anything new about the yakuza business, and the romance was poorly developed.

However, it became clear that it was all building up to the final half: I don’t think I’ve seen a yakuza film that approached the treatment of yakuza in the modern age like this one did. It was really intriguing to see how society treats ex-yakuza and the people who are associated with them. It made me feel conflicted: I felt sorry for these characters, but they had kind of brought it upon themselves by being part of organised crime. And yet for the protagonist at least, he never really had any other options.

I wish the daughter had got a few more scenes; it would have been interesting to see the stigma from having a yakuza dad.

Review by Randa ★★★★½

One of the best movie from 2020. A raw portrait of the fall of a yakuza family with incredible visuals and performances that border on reality is something that you cannot miss if you are a fan of Japanese cinema since it will stay with you until the end.

Final Score : 88% 🍎

TOP 20 FAVORITE MOVIES FROM 2020

Review by Chris ★★★½ 4

A brooding drama that follows a reticent man named Kenji Yamamoto and his involvement with the local Yakuza, ambitiously told in three chapters over a 20 year period. For all its blood-soaked violence, it's a largely melancholy rumination on someone fulfilling their need for acceptance through a surrogate family and the ever-changing fortunes of organised crime as the passing years bring tighter restrictions.

It's very much a film of two halves. The first half depicts the appeal that being a part of a criminal enterprise can have to those in a vulnerable position, showing us the mutually beneficial connections and heated altercations that are commonplace when leading such a lifestyle. It's adequate stuff, but doesn't really add anything fresh to…

Review by Lou (rhymes with wow!) ★★★★

Easily the best gangster movie I've seen since watching Johnnie To's Election duology . A Family tells a familiar rise to-/fall from power story, but it's told in a gripping way with beautiful cinematography and a lot of flashy camera work.

I really love how three-dimensional every character was. In contemporary western movies they would have just been reduced to stereotypical crooks.

Review by Ady Permana ★★★★½

not me crying over a yakuza movie 😭

Review by Warp ★★★★

Strong Yakuza flick about the rise of a man in the organization. Stylistically shot, dynamic camerawork and at times a colorful setting, although Tokyo as a setting helps a lot with that, it explores all the small alleys and slums you don’t know from Tokyo. Good executing of characters also, the films emotion distinguishes itself from other crime flicks, it literally is about a family. Not really action packed but when there’s violence it doesn’t hold back, exactly how it should be used. Only thing I wasn’t big on was the romantic sideplot, although it later gets slightly better. All in all an underrated Netflix flick that deserves more recognition.

Review by yonosuke ★★★★

god please stop making me fall in love to every japanese guy with bleached hair i see

Review by Umechan ★★★ 2

"I wish I never fell in love with you."

As its name goes by, the film is at its best when it discusses about family, Shibazaki-gumi and its fall.

I love the aspect ratio and colour filter change from 2005 -> 2019.

Imo, Yakuza films don't get pumped up until they kill someone. So, this film suffers a bit due to Dir. Fujii's hesitation to kill.

Still a nice stylish film. Second part is definitely better. Even cried a bit lol.

Review by Phoenix Lennard ★★★★½

I never thought I'd ever feel sorry for a criminal organization.

What an incredible, and beautiful film. Yakuza and the Family is a drama story, directed Fuji Michihito, about Kenji Yamamoto's life, in the Shibasaki-gumi Yakuza, from 1999, to 2019.

This film's story is powerful. An incredible tale about the rise and fall of the Shibazaki-gumi Yakuza, and about the main topic of the movie, family. Kenji starts as a rebellious, apathetic youth, but grows to be a respectable gentleman, after he joins Hiroshi Shibasaki's group.

Go Ayano does a phenomenal job, as Kenji Yamamoto. From playing a rebellious boy, to becoming a gentlemen, who believes he's finally found his true family, who see's Hiroshi Shibasaki as a father figure,…

Review by jord ★★★★½ 1

nothing like a good old soulcrushing yakuza melodrama to start the year off with. it has a first-half that rings tried and tested, but the second-half is where it really shines - a completely humanist look on those outcasted by society for their sins before

happy new year

Review by schneeland ★★★½

Melancholic epic of a yakuza swan song. Much better than I expected.

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Film Review: A Family (2020) by Michihito Fujii

Despite being active since 2013, Michihito Fujii has only managed to become more widely known in 2019, when two of his movies, “ Night and Day ” and “ The Journalist ” garnered much attention, both in Japan and internationally. “ A Family ” follows in the same footsteps of the two, both stylistically and contextually, with the second aspect focusing on an effort to present themes that are usually depicted in genre fashion, with realism. This time he deals with the world of yakuza, and particularly the concept of family within these organizations, which, supposedly, is one of the main values of the underworld.

“A Family” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

The story coves two decades in the life of Kenji Yamamoto, starting in 1999, when he has just lost his yakuza father, becoming an orphan, something that has turned him into an insolent punk, who seems to fear and respect of nothing, and is always eager to his use his fists to channel his anger. Kenji spends most of his time roaming around with his friends, while frequenting a small restaurant run by Aiko Kimura, a yakuza widow, who also has her young son, Tsubasa, sitting around the shop. One night, a fight among the yakuza regulars breaks out, and Kenji ends up protecting Hiroshi Shibasaki, the boss of the Shibasaki-gumi gang. The man takes an interest in the youth, but Kenji does not want to join the yakuza and is quite disrespectful once more. However, an incident where he is almost beaten to death by the members of another gang, and Shibasaki’s understanding behaviour eventually wins him over.

Fast forward ten years later, Kenji is one of the top henchmen in the Shibasaki-gumi while considering Shibasaki as a father, even willing to sacrifice himself for him. Furthermore, and after a nod from his mentor, he romances Yuka Kudo, a hostess who stands up to him, thus winning his respect. Trouble is brewing in the area however, and an attack against his boss brings Kenji on the path of revenge, and eventually, prison. More than 10 years later, Kenji gets out, but finds out that everything has changed, since the anti-crime law essentially has deemed the yakuza way of life, impossible. Kenji tries to adapt, while he finds out that Tsubasa has turned into something of a millennial version of him. Kazuhiko Osako, a rather shady cop who has been always dealing with yakuza, emerges as the true villain.

Michihito Fujii’s effort to present the yakuza world in a realistic fashion that essentially deems the movie a family drama as much as a crime thriller is mixed in its result. The main flaw derives from an idealization of the concept of family within the yakuza ranks, in this case, between Kenji and Shibasaki, and Kenji and his friends, mainly Kohei and Ryuta, and eventually, between Kenji and Tsutomu, one of Hiroshi’s main men. This sense of brotherhood in the underworld has long since been deconstructed as a total lie, starting with Kinji Fukasaku ‘s yakuza papers in the 70s, and continuing with a number of more recent titles dealing with the lives of lowly yakuza, as “Under the Open the Sky”, for example. The depiction here, on the contrary, is romanticized, to a point at least, which definitely detracts from the overall aesthetics of the movie and its realism.

The rest of the story, however, moves in the exact opposite path, highlighting the blights of yakuza life to the highest degree, particularly in the last arc. That the all-powerful leaders of the organization are now sick old men barely making a living by fishing in the midnight or working in secret in jobs that border on being illegal, highlights the dramatic turn their lives have taken rather eloquently. That the anti-yakuza laws state that, after they officially declare that they are no longer members of an organization, cannot work for five years is also presented in all its glory, along with the prejudice society shows these people, who are margninalized in the worst way, essentially as a punishment for their previous life. Lastly, that their past even impacts their friends and families, including the later generations, essentially stating that the history will repeat itself, even in completely different terms, emerges as one of the most dramatic, as much as realistic comment, regarding “the life”, even if in the end, this aspect borders on the melodramatic. The role police officer Kazuhiko plays throughout the story, also makes a comment about the role of the law, which was quite different during the yakuza-dominant era and now, during their fall, but remains rather despicable. Ryo Iwamatsu realizes this element in the best fashion as Kazuhiko in a truly memorable performance.

Go Ayano is great as Kenji, with his transformation being one of the best parts of the narrative. Kenji starts as a wild wolf, becomes an obedient dog, and ends up as an old stray one, watching another young wolf, Tsubasa, following the same path as his, as the last arc works as a process of complete disillusionment for Kenji. The way Go Ayano presents these radical changes is impressive, also due to the fact that violence continues to live inside him, even if channeled in different ways.

Talking about violence, particularly the first two parts are filled with it, with Fujii showing how much of an integral part of yakuza life it is. The plethora of action scenes are quite impressive, filled with brutal energy, with DP Keisuke Imamura making the most of its depiction, although in a fashion that is too polished sometimes. This aspect actually carries over throughout the movie, occasionally providing a relief, as in the various images of the sky and the beach and a number of shots in night clubs, but sometimes making the film feel somewhat unrealistic, although not to a point to fault the outcome significantly. The editing is also implemented rather well, with the pace being faster in the first two arcs and much slower in the last, mirroring the situation of the protagonists.

Also of note are the various secondary actors, all of which portray their characters quite fittingly, with Shinobu Terajima as Aiko, Yukiya Kitamura as Tsutomu, and Hiroshi Tachi as Hiroshi giving memorable performances as the “old guard”. Hayato Ichihara as Ryuta shows another impressive transformation, while Ryutaro Ninomiya also makes a meaningful appearance as the always smiling Kohei.

Despite some faults here and there, “A Family” emerges as an impressive portrait of yakuza life through the years, with the family drama/crime action combination working quite well, also in terms of entertainment.

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About the author.

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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Best Kids & Family Movies 2021

Studio adaptations of beloved children’s IP primarily make up this list: Tom & Jerry , Clifford: The Big Red Dog , Flora & Ulysses , and Space Jam . But it’s the true story of Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette, that is tops. Dream Horse dramatizes the triumph of an unlikely racehorse and her human family who, with little money or experience but a whole lot of heart and determination, make their way into the nation’s top competitions.

The order reflects Tomatometer scores (as of December 31, 2021) after adjustment from our ranking formula, which compensates for variation in the number of reviews when comparing movies or TV shows.

Dream Horse (2020) 88%

The Water Man (2020) 77%

Flora and Ulysses (2020) 72%

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021) 67%

Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) 58%

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Best Family Movies of 2021, Ranked

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The worldwide impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was massive when it first appeared in 2020, striking the lives of billions of people and disrupting nearly every industry. The entertainment industry and its performers, in particular according to Forbes , suffered a severe blow, as, among other things, performances in cinemas, theaters and stadiums around the world were completely cut off. Moreover, many film and television projects that were already in development had to be delayed for an indefinite period of time, and some were even canceled for good.

For these and many other reasons, 2021 was a great year for the film industry: movie theaters reopened, and millions of people around the world got to experience once again the thrill of watching a silver screen premiere with a big bucket of popcorn on their laps. Additionally, a new way of enjoying premieres gained popularity: watching them from the comfort of one's own home via streaming platforms. A large number of the movies that were released last year were aimed specifically at younger audiences . However, it is becoming increasingly common for children's movies to be intended not only for kids, but for the entire family to enjoy , and 2021 featured many great movies of this kind showcasing diverse themes, ranging from dysfunctional family dynamics to warrior princesses and animals with strong singing talents. This article will review some of the best family movies of 2021.

9 Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the perfect choice for the entire family, as this film is part of a franchise that has spanned generations. Headlining the cast are Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd, with guest appearances by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver (reprising their characters from previous films). Interestingly, Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two films, stepped into the role of lead producer, passing the director's chair to his son, Jason Reitman. This time around, a family moves into a peaceful town that is suddenly affected by mysterious earthquakes. They soon discover their grandfather's secret legacy and, together with the help of a seismologist, must face unexpected forces.

Related: 9 Great Family-Friendly Horror Movies

If your parents could only say yes to any and all requests, what would you ask them for? Allison (Jennifer Garner) and Carlos Torres (Edgar Ramirez) discovered that, over time, they became too strict with their lives, and especially with their children, who are constantly denied all their requests. Therefore, to subvert the family dynamics, Allison suggests establishing one Yes Day a year, a day during which they must accept their children's requests no matter what, leading the family to experience the most unimaginable adventures. This movie was a project conceived by Garner exclusively for her kids, per People , as it is an adaptation of their favorite book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.

In the last few years, Disney has worked on a great number of live-action adaptations of its classic films. In 2021, in particular, they decided to go one step further, and center one of their productions around one of their most famous villains: Cruella De Vil, from The 101 Dalmatians . In the live-action film Cruella , the audience is introduced to this glamorous fashion designer's origins and the story of how she turned into a villain, proving that nothing is what it seems. Emma Stone stars in the title role, alongside a stellar cast including Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Mark Strong.

6 Finding 'Ohana

Finding 'Ohana is a Netflix film that marked the directorial debut of Jude Weng, and it stars Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, Owen Vaccaro, and Kelly Hu. The film revolves around siblings Pili and Ioane, who must move back to their native Oahu with their mother so that she can help her father with health and financial issues. The siblings, who are initially hesitant to relocate indefinitely, quickly make friends on the island, and eventually discover an old diary of their grandfather's containing a clue to the location of a pirate treasure. Guided by this trail, they all embark on an adventure that not only changes their lives, but also reconnects them to their Hawaiian roots.

Sing 's sequel was one of the movies delayed due to the consequences of the pandemic, which is why fans were so excited when it finally came out in 2021. Sing 2 features all the characters from the first film, who are now stars in their hometown. Now, Buster Moon wants to take it a step further, and he takes his theater troupe to audition in the entertainment capital. He manages to convince the industry mogul to put on a show like no other. But things don't turn out the way he hopes: if Moon fails to secure the appearance of a retired hit musician, the show gets canceled.

Related: Sing 2: Best Songs in the Movie, Ranked

4 Raya and the Last Dragon

Sticking with Disney's latest princess films, Raya and the Last Dragon strengthens the idea of having strong women characters who are the leaders of their own story. This was another film delayed by the impact of the pandemic and, at the time of its release, was available in theaters and on Disney+ as a rental at the same time. Raya is a warrior princess from Kumandra Kingdom, a place where peace used to reign, but has been haunted by evil spirits known as The Druun for years. That is why Raya sets out on a quest to find the last dragon in the land, hoping to obtain the gem that would restore balance to her land.

Luca marked the feature directorial debut of Enrico Casarosa, and it focuses on the value of friendship and the pain of feeling different from others. The film follows Luca, a sea monster who lives with his family underwater, near a small town on the Italian coast. He is a very curious boy who wishes to explore the surface, but his family strongly discourages him from doing so, as the villagers of Portorosso hunt sea monsters. But one day, when Luca emerges to the surface, he discovers that, out of the water, he acquires a human appearance, and he meets Alberto, a boy who is just like him. The group is joined by Giulia, and soon they embark on an adventure together. However, they need to be very careful: if Luca and Alberto's secret is revealed, they will both face serious danger.

In 2021, Encanto became the 60th film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Set in Colombia, the movie follows the Madrigal family, blessed many years ago with the Encanto, a magical realm, bordered by high mountains. They all live there under the command of their grandmother, Alma Madrigal, and eventually, each family member is given a special gift that helps the community. The only member that did not receive a gift was Mirabel, the main character. But when the darkness strikes the Encanto, and the Madrigal family is close to losing their gifts, Mirabel sets out on a mission to uncover the truth behind what is happening in order to save her family and her people.

1 The Mitchells vs. the Machines

The top spot on this list goes undoubtedly to this Netflix animated production, well received by critics and audiences alike, and even earning a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The Mitchells vs. the Machines introduces a rather atypical, yet very loving family, formed by Rick, Linda and their children Katie and Aaron. Katie is an aspiring filmmaker who got accepted to a film school in California. But just before her trip, her father breaks her computer during a fight, shattering their relationship. In order to redeem himself, he decides to cancel Katie's flight and drive her across the country with the whole family, seizing on the experience to strengthen their bond. However, an unexpected technological awakening threatens to destroy humanity, so the Mitchells must do whatever it takes to fix their issues, save the world, and simultaneously get Katie to California in time for her first class.

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A Family Reviews

2 hr 15 mins
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A young man grapples with his loyalties and the shifting culture of contemporary Japan after being groomed by the yakuza since childhood.

A Family Affair

As mundane as its title, with characters whose color-by-numbers personalities and motivations shift randomly to fit a predictable storyline, “A Family Affair” is a low-wattage rom-com. As with last month’s streaming romance “ The Idea of You ,” this film features a gorgeous Oscar-winning actress as a middle-aged woman falling for a much younger superstar performer, with all the ensuing hijinks.

“Paperboy” co-stars Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron play award-winning author Brooke Harwood and superhero franchise star Chris Cole , whose meet-cute is that Brooke’s 24-year-old daughter Zara ( Joey King ) is the movie star’s long-suffering personal assistant, on call 24/7 for everything from picking up his dry-cleaning and groceries to just-in-time delivery of the diamond stud earrings he gives to the girls he dates as a break-up present. Zara sees how self-absorbed and helpless Chris is, but she stays with him, hoping that he will deliver on his promise to help her career.

Zara still lives with Brooke, a widow for 11 years. They are both very close to Leila ( Kathy Bates ), Brooke’s warm-hearted and supportive mother-in-law and Zara’s grandmother.

Zara finally gets fed up and quits her job, just as Chris is about to start filming another sequel in his popular “ Icarus ” series. Chris goes to the house to persuade Zara to come back. He meets Brooke, and soon, they are literally ripping each other’s clothes off, just in time for Zara to come home and discover them in flagrante delicto . This leads to what is supposed to be an amusing scene of Zara retching. It is not.

Horrified as Zara is, she agrees to return to work for Chris in exchange for an associate producer credit on his new movie and a promise that he will never see her mother again. He keeps the first promise but not the second, leading to the expected complications and confrontations.

There are no surprises here, but there are a few sharp observations and bright moments when screenwriter Carrie Soloman has some fun with the movie industry setting. The opening montage that establishes Chris as a huge star hits all the right notes, from the magazine covers (GQ, Vanity Fair) to the speculation about his dating life to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his appearance on “Hot Ones.” In a case of art imitating life, a scene of Chris taking an ice bath was inspired by real-life Zac Efron’s bulking-up regimen for “ The Iron Claw .”

Zara is on a first-name basis with the paparazzi who swarm outside his gate. The latest “Icarus” franchise film, repeatedly described as “’Die Hard’ meets ‘Miracle on 34 th Street’ with a little bit of ‘Speed,’” is directed by a French woman who does not speak English, and Chris has to re-shoot a scene because they can’t have a gun in the trailer for a PG-13. When Zara gets stuck in traffic and is late getting to the restaurant where Chris plans to break up with his girlfriend, he complains that the wait meant he had to think of too many things to say. The big pink robot statue in Chris’s home is precisely the overpriced junk a young guy who is suddenly rich would think was cool.

But the idea of a show business pretty boy who is more lonely than entitled is stale, and this film desperately needed to make it fresh. After establishing Chris as self-absorbed and not very bright, we are asked to believe that he and an award-winning novelist with shelves of books would bond over her explaining that the character he is known for is named after the Greek myth of the boy who flew too close to the sun, promise each other to have meaningless sex, and then develop an enduring romance.

Their relationship never meets even the low bar for a suspended-disbelief pretty-people-smooching movie. Though King does her best to be harried, anxious, and horrified, Zara’s best friends, played by Liza Koshy and Sherry Cola , are more vibrant and interesting than she is. The last section is very weak, with an unnecessary mix-up, an overdue reality check, and a zigzag into a Hallmark-channel-like cozy white Christmas. The low point is a jarring confession that seems to be intended to make the Brooke/Chris connection more believable but seems like the kind of random punch-up that Zara and her screenwriter friend would jettison.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

Nicole Kidman as Brooke Harwood
Zac Efron as Chris Cole
Joey King as Zara Ford
Kathy Bates as Leila Ford
Carrie Solomon
Richard Lagravenese

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‘familiar touch’ review: a tender debut frames older adulthood as its own coming-of-age.

Kathleen Chalfant stars in Sarah Friedland's drama following an octogenarian as she confronts the realities of dementia and moving into an assisted living facility.

By Lovia Gyarkye

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Most coming-of-age stories deal in the vagaries of adolescence — that confusing time defined by dramatic confrontations with unfamiliar feeling. But Sarah Friedland’s affecting debut Familiar Touch , remixing the genre, considers the emotional valence of older adulthood.

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John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler lead a stellar cast in a new interpretation of Wilson's masterwork, directed by Malcolm Washington.

Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight , is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen.

The Washington family, led by Denzel , pledged to bring all of August Wilson's plays to the big screen in a multiyear project — with The Piano Lesson , they continue that mission. It's a true family affair with Malcolm Washington directing his brother John David Washington , and their sister Katia producing right in step with dad Denzel.

Set in 1930s Pittsburgh, the story follows Boy Willie (John David Washington), as he descends upon his sister's house with his friend Lymon ( Ray Fisher ), intent on selling the family piano to rustle up the funds to buy his own farm. The piano in question is a family heirloom steeped in blood. Originally, the Sutter family traded members of Boy Willie's family, then enslaved on the Sutter plantation, for the piano. Eventually, the husband of the bartered wife and father of the daughter is called upon to carve the likeness of his missing kin into the piano (he ends up carving the faces of all their ancestors).

Boy Willie and his sister Berniece ( Danielle Deadwyler ) lose their father when he, Doaker ( Samuel L. Jackson ), and Wining Boy (Michael Potts) steal the piano from the Sutters. Because of this, Boy Willie believes they should turn their back on the past and use the money from the sale of the piano to envision a new future. But Berniece is intent on preserving their family history, even if she has let the ghosts of their ancestors lie dormant by refusing to play it.

On its surface, The Piano Lesson is a family drama, an escalating argument between brother and sister. But it's also a tale of trauma and the courage that it takes to confront the horrors of the past and pernicious oppression.

Malcolm Washington makes his directorial debut with the film and it's a potent showcase for his visionary, promising skills as a filmmaker. There are segments of The Piano Lesson, particularly in the early expository sequences, that feel a bit stagey and indebted to the work's theatrical origins. But, by and large, Washington both expands and zooms in on the world in uniquely cinematic ways, whether it be his evocative flashbacks or his use of camera tricks to heighten the text's supernatural elements.

It helps that Washington's cast boasts preternatural abilities themselves. John David reprises the role he played in the 2022 Broadway revival (as do Fisher, Jackson, and Potts), bringing selfishness and self-possession to a man who yearns to exceed the oppression of his ancestors.

Jackson has a long history with the play, having originated the role of Boy Willie in the very first staged production at Yale Repertory Theatre. Here, he takes a backseat to the bitter arguments of the younger characters, providing both comic relief and a guiding hand as Uncle Doaker.

Fisher plays against his superhero type as the shy, mild-mannered Lyman (and he is nearly unrecognizable in the role). He grants Lyman a simple gentleness that underscores the man's sweet soul. He's so winning in the role that it feels inevitable when Berniece is finally blindsided by her attraction to him. The romantic scene they share is sultry and erotic, despite the fact that they barely touch.

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It is Deadwyler ( Till ), however, who anchors the film with a performance of tremendous courage and heft. Her Berniece is a wounded creature, ready to snarl at any who would threaten her, her daughter, her memories of her late husband, or their precious family piano. She brims with yearning and pain, her soulful eyes barely containing the storminess of her soul.

Berniece is the one to finally realize that the family can only banish the ghosts of those who haunt them by calling on those who came before. The film's climax is as potently terrifying as any horror movie, using low, canted angles, overpowering sound design, spooky lighting, and gasp-inducing effects (it is in this regard that the text is rendered truly cinematic, amplifying the ghost story at the heart of the action beyond mere suggestion).

Deadwyler is key to that, her performance emanating abject terror as she finally returns to the piano and calls to the ancestors, "C'mon and help me." The escalating refrain is an electrifying moment, Deadwyler's exposed nerve of a performance blending seamlessly with the score, editing, and ambience to hold the audience in a frightened thrall.

August Wilson is a poet of the American stage. In the hands of this remarkable cast and Washington's assured direction, Wilson's work finds its best conduit to the screen yet. The Piano Lesson is a meditation on trauma and the necessity of confronting it in order to free oneself from the ghosts of the past — a message so powerful that it's sure to haunt audiences long after the credits roll. Grade: A-

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The Deliverance true story: Where is Latoya Ammons now?

Lee Daniels' horror movie has been a Netflix hit.

preview for The Deliverance – official trailer (Netflix)

The Deliverance true story

Where is latoya ammons now.

The Deliverance has been a big hit for Netflix, scaring up 14.5 million views over its opening weekend and remaining at the top of the most-watched movies list since its release.

If it's not for that viral Glenn Close line , the horror movie has been getting people talking about the fact that it's said to have been "inspired by terrifying true events".

While The Deliverance has changed names and locations from real life, it is based on the life of Latoya Ammons, even if director lee Daniels took creative license with many of the details.

So if you want to know more about what happened to Latoya Ammons, we're here to help.

caleb mcglaughlin, anthony b jenkins, mo'nique, the deliverance

Latoya Ammons moved to a new house in Gary (Indiana) in November 2011 along with her mother, Rose Campbell, and her three children, ages 7, 9 and 12.

Soon, the family reported strange occurrences, like hearing footsteps down in the basement, seeing shadowy figures around the house and finding boot prints on the kitchen floor.

In an article published by Indianapolis Star in 2014 (which had access to a detailed 800-page report including more than a dozen interviews with police, psychologists, family members and a Catholic priest), the family recalled seeing flies everywhere and hearing the "creak of the door opening between the basement and kitchen".

Ammons also described witnessing her children levitating above their beds, getting injured by flying objects and speaking in strange voices.

anthony b jenkins as andre, the deliverance

By March 2012, the alleged supernatural incidents had escalated so much that Ammons and her mother decided to contact the local churches, but most refused to help them.

Finally, one church official agreed to visit them and recommended cleaning the house with bleach and ammonia to get rid of the spirits. Ammons also used oil to draw crosses on every door and window, as well as on her children's foreheads. A clairvoyant told the family to set up an altar in her basement too, with an opened Bible on Psalm 91.

These measures lasted only three days before the possessions started again.

The Indianapolis Star article recounts numerous incidents that happened in the following days and weeks, from the kids being choked by an invisible force to the youngest one having conversations about death with a spirit in the closet.

Some nights were so bad the family slept at a hotel, reported the outlet, but they couldn't move out because of their difficult financial situation.

The Deliverance was inspired by these events, but the story leaves some alleged incidents out.

For example, the family's disastrous visit to their physician, Dr Geoffrey Onyeukwu. It was claimed that Ammons' children cursed the doctor in demonic voices, and their increasingly aggressive behaviour prompted someone to call the police.

Around that time, an agent from Indiana's Department of Child Services (DCS), Valerie Washington, started an investigation for a possible case of child abuse and neglect following an unnamed complaint.

Ammons later reached out to a local priest, Reverend Michael Maginot, who after extensive investigation of the case performed three exorcisms at his Merrillville church, in June 2012, and blessed the home to rid it of evil spirits.

In their joint investigation, they found the demons haunting them had names, including Beelzebub and other demons that torture and hurt kids, which Ammons felt explained everything that had been happening to her family.

By this point, Latoya Ammons had temporarily lost custody of her children.

"The story sort of sat with me for forever," director Lee Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter .

"We had never seen this story, through this lens of this African American woman, onscreen, and I just felt we're in such dark times, and I don't think people really know how dark of times we are in. And I felt like I needed to get reconnected to my higher power."

andra day, anthony b jenkins, the deliverance

After she was separated from her kids and Reverend Maginot performed the exorcisms on her, Latoya Ammons moved back to Indianapolis, out of the house.

In November 2012, Ammons regained custody of her three children. They kept being watched closely by the DCS to make sure the children were okay, until the case was closed over a year later.

In the ending credits, The Deliverance offers a brief update about the haunted house featured in the movie: "The house remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016. Strange occurrences are still reported around the property to this day."

The ending also includes a picture of Latoya Ammons, but no details of her whereabouts or circumstances today.

Director Lee Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter that he talked with Ammons and her family during the making of the film.

"I did in the very beginning. [They were] so gracious. It's my interpretation of her life story. I purposely didn't want to meet her because I was nervous. But I spoke to her, I believe once or twice, in the beginning. And she's lovely. She was at peace.

"What I've changed a little bit is I made her mother white because I have so many mixed-race friends and [I wanted to talk about] what it's like to have a white mother and live in a Black girl's body. And the deliverance person was actually a guy and not a girl.

"But there are so many women that do this work too, that don't get recognised, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and such. I really wanted to separate as much as I could so I could make it my own story."

The Deliverance is now available to watch on Netflix.

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Deputy Movies Editor, Digital Spy Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over seven years, mostly for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas .

Her work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema in the UK.

She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service . During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world, and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. Now based in the UK, Mireia joined Digital Spy in June 2023 as Deputy Movies Editor.

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Shang-Chi star Simu Liu reviews his own Marvel movie

Simu Liu is a big fan of Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Andrew Korpan

Marvel star Simu Liu with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings poster.

At least Simu Liu is a fan of his Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and gave it a positive review in honor of its third anniversary.

On X (formerly Twitter), @MarvelMultive celebrated the third anniversary of the release of Shang-Chi. They asked for everyone's reviews of it. Liu quote-posted with his 8.5-star review.

“8.5/10,” Liu responded. “Decent movie but lead actor is a little too full of himself.”

This is obviously done in jest by Liu. While he is surely confident in his movie, it is unlikely that he finds himself “too full of himself.” Marvel fans are still awaiting the announcement of a sequel.

Who is Simu Liu?

Shang-Chi star Simu Liu is most associated with his Marvel role. He first gained notoriety for his roles in Blood and Water. Liu had a recurring role in Taken Season 1 and starred in Kim's Convenience from 2016-21.

After over a half-decade away from the big screen, Liu had his breakout in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This was his first major role in a movie after being an extra in Pacific Rim and a Male Nurse in Antisocial 2.

Since then, Liu has starred in One True Loves, Simulant, and Barbie. He played Rival Ken to Ryan Gosling's Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie. He also starred in Arthur the King alongside Mark Wahlberg.

His most recent movie, Jackpot!, reunited Liu with his Shang-Chi co-star Awkwafina. John Cena also starred in it. Paul Feig, best known for directing Bridesmaids, helmed the project.

Coming up, Liu is bound to reprise his role as Shang-Chi. Whether it is first in a sequel movie or an Avengers team-up remains to be seen.

Did Shang-Chi get positive reviews?

Shang-Chi came out on September 3, 2021. It served as the origin story for the title character as he takes on his father. His father, Wenwu (Tony Leung), is the leader of the Ten Rings organization, leaving Shang-Chi to team with his sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang).

The movie grossed $432 million during its theatrical run. While not a hit as big as Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.9 billion), it made more than the other 2021 MCU releases, Black Widow ($379 million) and Eternals ($402 million).

Moreover, Shang-Chi was a hit with critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a 91% score from critics. Its audience score (now retitled the Popcornmeter) is even higher at 98%.

Destin Daniel Cretton directed Shang-Chi based on a script he co-wrote with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham. Cretton is best known for directing collaborations with Brie Larson, such as Short Term 12, The Glass Castle, and Just Mercy. Larson also appears in Shang Chi's post-credits scene.

After the success of Shang-Chi, Cretton was bound for a bigger role with Marvel. At one point, he was bound to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty . However, he stepped down and is still developing a Wonder Man series. The Russo brothers instead stepped in to helm the fifth Avengers movie. Hopefully, Cretton will be the one to helm the eventual Shang-Chi 2.

Andrew Korpan is the lead entertainment editor and film critic for ClutchPoints. Residing in Philadelphia, Andrew is an award-winning journalist with previous bylines at Collider, Above the Line, and Below the Line.

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Julie Delpy Talks Making a Comedy About the Immigration Crisis With Toronto Title ‘Meet the Barbarians’: ‘How Do I Reach People That Are Not Easily Reached?’

By Elsa Keslassy

Elsa Keslassy

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French-American actor and director Julie Delpy has tackled culture clash in comedies before in ”Two Days in Paris” and “Two Days in New York,” but it’s never been as poignant as in “Meet the Barbarians,” where she explores the journey of a Syrian family who find refuge in a village in Northern France.

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Delpy penned, directed and stars in the film as Joelle, a progressive schoolteacher who enlists the help of her devoted friend (Sandrine Kiberlain) to make the Syrian family feel at home despite the bigotry of some neighbors, such as plumber Hervé (Laurent Lafitte). The film shows how both sides warm up to and learn from one another, becoming better people in the process. The cast includes Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Three Friends”) and Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”).

Delpy said she started thinking of the idea for the film around 2012 when the war in Syria broke out. “People escaped raping, slaughter and war, getting on boats, and trying to cross borders,” Delpy tells Variety . “I was really interested in this situation of people trying to survive and find asylum.” While the refugee crisis has been dealt with before in dramas, it has seldom been the topic of a comedy.

Delpy says finding humorous aspects within the refugee experience was a way to make the story more accessible to broader audiences. “My first instinct was, ‘This is horribly sad and heartbreaking.’ And my second was, ‘How do I reach people that are not necessarily easily reached by this subject matter?'” The answer, Delpy says, was comedy.

“Everyone was opening their doors to Ukrainians and I had heard so many horrible stories of Syrian refugees being stuck. I was like, ‘Really, there are refugees and refugees?'” Delpy suggested that there was a sort of caste system within the world of refugees.

Yet, she says she didn’t want the film to be about politics, and instead focus “on the basic human side of it.”

“It just moved me a lot and also interests me as a subject matter,” she says. But even then, “Meet the Barbarians” took a while to finance. She and her longtime producer Michael Gentille at Paris-based the Film (“The Skylab”) got Canal+ on board early on, but also faced some closed doors.

“Some people said ‘no’ because they thought negative things about what the film was about. They didn’t even read the script in a proper way, I think,” Delpy says. Disney+ nabbed SVOD rights to the film, while Le Pacte (“Anatomy of a Fall”) acquired French distribution rights.

Although it’s a comedy, “Meet the Barbarians” was based on “thorough research on how Syrian refugees ended up in France and how their journey was,” says Delpy, who penned the script with Matthieu Rumani (“Family Business”) and Nicolas Slomka (“Fiasco”), with the collaboration of Léa Doménach (“Bernadette”). “Everyone has a different story. You have a million different stories.”

“Meet the Barbarians” makes fun of bigots but it also makes fun of social justice activists. Delpy, who says she is highly progressive, says she “[knows] all about woke” because she lives in L.A.

“I’m surrounded by woke,” she says. “And listen, some of it is great because it’s important, obviously, to be open-minded and stuff. And the truth is, I’ve been raised by parents who are so open-minded.”

Asked whether she would consider making a similar movie centering on immigration and based in the U.S., where she has been living for many years, Delpy says “it would be very different.”

“Because, first of all, there are guns everywhere. So it lasts five minutes. Everyone gets shot,” she says. “No, I’m exaggerating. But it would be very different.”

She says she’s tried to write a ”satirical film set in the U.S. about the politics,” but was never able to get it made. “I remember at the time, there were readers in an agency I was with that said it was the best thing they’d ever read, but no one ended up financing it. It was called ‘World Wars and Other Fun Stuff to Watch on the Evening News.'”

“To me, those characters are a study of relationship at different time of your life,” she says. “If my character is dying of cancer, it becomes another story, like a sensationalist love story.”

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Russian kids slip into a mysterious coma in Greek new waver Alexandros Avranas’ icy family drama

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Move over Yorgos Lanthimos. Compatriot Alexandros Avranas also has a bleak few things to say about the infinite downside of the human experience in this frosty drama set within the maze of Swedish bureaucracy in 2018.

The Greek weird wave man delivered a tar-black portrait of family life in 2013’s Miss Violence , and his latest is an equally poor advert for parenthood. Here, he muscles in on Roy Andersson’s offbeat terrain to deliver a chilly allegory that follows an asylum-seeking Russian family as it navigates unsmiling Swedish bureaucracy.

Dissident teacher Sergei (Grigory Dobrygin, A Most Wanted Man ) has fled Russia after a brutal attack from the security services, taking his wife Natalia (Chulpan Khamatova, the girlfriend in Good Bye, Lenin! ) and their two young daughters, Alina (Naomi Lamp) and Katja (Miroslava Pashutina), to the relative sanctuary of Sweden.

But it’s fair to say that Avranas is not one of life’s optimists, and his depiction of what the family has to deal with would give Kafka a headache. Subjected to interrogation, their claims to asylum picked apart. For reasons never made clear, Sergei’s professional status counts against them here; perhaps he just does not match the preconception of what a political refugee should look like, despite the vivid scar he flaunts in a desperate attempt to be believed.

This depiction of bureaucracy would Kafka a headache

But, confusingly, Quiet Life ceases to be about the trauma of the parents – at least, not that trauma. Instead, its vision of uncaring bureaucracy gives way to something even more painful, as first Katja and then Alina slip into unexplained comas. Avranas has taken real-life inspiration from ‘Child Resignation Syndrome’ here, a phenomenon reported in thousands of children, often from war zones and experiencing extreme upheaval. He amps up the nightmarishness by depicting a health system almost sci-fi in its sterility. Doctors limit the time Sergei and Naomi can spend at their daughters’ bedsides and force them to undergo a kind of smiling therapy – scenes that yield some much-needed dry humour. Like its near-namesake A Quiet Place , Quiet Life plays effectively on that deep seated parental fear: of not being able to protect your children or, worse, infecting them with your anxiety and uncertainty. And while the Greek filmmaker loses some traction on his film’s satirical edges, he replaces it with something heartfelt and humane. There’s method in the weirdness.

Quiet Life premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Cast and crew

Director: Alexandros Avranas
Screenwriter: Alexandros Avranas
Chulpan Khamatova
Grigory Dobrygin
Miroslava Pashutina
Eleni Roussinou

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The Watchers Review: The Shyamalan Family’s Love Of A Twist Ending Ruins A Fascinating Horror

The watchers' creatures explained: history, powers, & what they look like, why jeffrey jones doesn't return as charles deetz in beetlejuice 2.

The 2024 horror movie The Watchers is set in Ireland, but its beautiful settings and deep, dark forests have led people to wonder where it was actually filmed. The Watchers , now streaming on Max , was the directorial debut of M. Night Shyamalan's daughter, Ishana Shyamalan . It follows Dakota Fanning's lead character, Mina. Mina is an American artist living in Galway, Ireland. When she's driving through a remote, forested part of Ireland, her car breaks down and she finds herself trapped in a cabin with three other people while malevolent creatures outside threaten to kill them.

Like all of the best dark fairytales and folklore movies, The Watchers , based on the book by A.M. Shine , makes liberal use of a forest setting. While some city locations were used, as well as soundstages, the film shoot benefited from the natural beauty of Ireland's ancient forests. While not a lot of information is available about where exact scenes were shot, a little bit of digging does uncover info about where in Ireland certain scenes in The Watchers took place.

Dakota Fanning holds her hand up to mirror in The Watchers movie still

There is no rationale for The Watchers’ ending; it switches gears, as though afraid we’d come too close to something that made a bit more sense.

Used For Early City Scenes In The Movie

Dakota Fanning looking shocked as Georgina Campbell with imagery from The Watchers behind her

Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, is a beautiful city on the East Coast of the country. As such, it was used for the movie's Act I scenes where Mina is living her life in the city , not yet having traveled to the forested, more remote areas of Ireland. The movie features Dublin's historic buildings and old sites full of parks and marketplaces and cultural markers to help establish the setting.

It's a cosmopolitan city, but with Dublin's ancient history dating back to the time it was known as Dubh Linn, it hints at the wilder, more primal parts of Ireland Mina has yet to encounter. The city is no doubt beautiful and vibrant, but it's exactly that beauty that lulls the viewer (and Mina) into a false sense of security , setting up the rest of the movie once her nightmare begins.

Various City Scenes & Some Landscape Forest Locations

Nina holding her birdcage, walking down the street in The Watchers

The Galway region was the second shooting area of The Watchers , and the locations used were to supplement the city scenes shot in Dublin. Galway's famous Kirwan's Lane, Quay Street, and Cross Street areas were all used for various city exterior shots , and a few interior ones, as well. The scene where Mina gets into her Jeep and drives off for her assignment to the forest was shot in front of the Electric Nightclub on Abbeygate Street Upper. A closed building that formerly housed a business known as Griffin's Bakery on Shop Street was painted green and repurposed to become the pet shop where Mina gets the parrot. (via Galway Beo )

Galway also did double duty thanks to its picturesque landscape, as well. Galway is known for its wild, rugged coastline, including the famous Cliffs of Moher and Connemara. Thus, the gorgeous natural scenery of Galway was used in a few external shots. The same goes for its wooded parks and forested areas, which were used for some of the forest scenes in The Watchers .

The terrifying creatures that haunt the woods in The Watchers have a backstory based on a legendary race of creatures from real-world folklore.

Most Of The Scary Forest Scenes Were Shot Here

The majority of the creepy forest scenes were shot in Wicklow, Ireland. Wicklow is known for its primeval, moss-laden forests that immediately conjure up images of monstrous creatures and malevolent faeries; Ballinastoe Forest, in particular, has an ancient, magical feel that has made it a popular shooting location. As such, Wicklow's lush forests were the perfect location to shoot the scenes where Mina and the others were trapped in the unforgiving, dark forest. Additional scenes in The Watchers were also filmed on a soundstage in Bray, Wicklow at Ardmore Studios.

The Watchers

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Based on A.M. Shine's novel, The Watchers follows Mina, a twenty-eight-year-old artist stranded in the middle of a forest in Ireland. Her momentary relief when she finds shelter is shattered when she discovers other strangers in the same predicament - but they're stalked each night by unseen creatures.

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4.5. Summary. A killer gangster epic! This review of the Netflix film A Family contains no spoilers. Formerly known as Yakuza and The Family, but rebranded as A Family on Netflix, is a killer gangster epic. Blood is spilled, guts are splattered, and some sentimental tears are shed. This is about honor, after all.
A Family ending explained
By the film's bloody conclusion, Kenji (Go Ayano) has decided to put an end to it all. He doesn't want to see the little boy, Tsubasa (Hayato Isomura), who he had doted on as a small child, make the same mistake he did by avenging his father. So, the love of his life, Yuka (Machiko Ono), leaves him. She also takes the daughter he just found ...
A Family Movie Review: Fujii and Ayano come together to create an
Rating: ( 3.5 / 5) Michihito Fujii's Japanese crime drama is long and intense. The psychological intensity of many of its finest moments takes you back to The Godfather. It is safe to surmise that the latter made an impression on the director at some stage in his life. It is 1999 and 19-year-old Kenji Yamamoto finds himself at the centre of a ...
'A Family' Summary & Ending, Explained
Ken joined the gang in 1999 and thus had no idea about Kimura or his murderers. In 2019, Kimura's son, Tsubasa, became a low-life punk who saw Ken as an aspirational figure. Influenced by Ken, Tsubasa decided to avenge his father's murder from Kato and corrupt police chief Kazuhiko Osako.
A Family (2021)
DMCA Policy. Build fed2550 (7780) Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times.
A Family (2021)
Watch on Netflix. R 2 hr 16 min Jun 18th, 2021 Crime, Drama. Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever ...
A Family (2021), My Review : r/JapaneseMovies
it was one of my fave films in 2021. It's defo a great one! Might even be worth a re-watch. I enjoyed the movie also (normally no fan of this slow movies) but I was intrigued I did find the ending missing a bit of a more powerful payoff but overall I wasn't bored with the movie and was an entertaining watch. Agreed!
‎A Family (2020) directed by Michihito Fujii • Reviews, film + cast
What an incredible, and beautiful film. Yakuza and the Family is a drama story, directed Fuji Michihito, about Kenji Yamamoto's life, in the Shibasaki-gumi Yakuza, from 1999, to 2019. This film's story is powerful. An incredible tale about the rise and fall of the Shibazaki-gumi Yakuza, and about the main topic of the movie, family.
A Family
Kenji Yamamoto's father died from using a stimulant drug. His life fell into desperation. Kenji then joined a crime syndicate. There, he meets the gang's boss Hiroshi Shibasaki. Hiroshi reaches out to Kenji and they developed a relationship like father and son. As time passes, Kenji has his own family.
Watch A Family
Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times. Watch trailers & learn more.
The Best Family Films of 2021
The Best Family Films of 2021. As the pandemic changed homes in 2021, it feels like families watched movies together more than ever. These are the best family films of 2021, as chosen by the assigned critics every week here at RogerEbert.com.
Film Review: A Family (2020) by Michihito Fujii
Despite being active since 2013, Michihito Fujii has only managed to become more widely known in 2019, when two of his movies, "Night and Day" and "The Journalist" garnered much attention, both in Japan and internationally. "A Family" follows in the same footsteps of the two, both stylistically and contextually, with the second aspect focusing on an effort to present themes that ...
The Family (2021)
The Family. On an isolated farm in 1800's, a family is ruled by their tyrannical father who preaches fire and brimstone, and their devout mother who demands obedience. He exploits their fear of a ...
Film Review: A Family (2020) by Michihito Fujii
Despite being active since 2013, Michihito Fujii has only managed to become more widely known in 2019, when two of his movies, "Night and Day" and "The Journalist" garnered much attention, both in Japan and internationally. "A Family" follows in the same footsteps of the two, both stylistically and contextually, with the second aspect focusing on an effort to present themes that ...
Common Sense Media's 18 best family films of 2021
Common Sense Media's 18 best family films of 2021. ... Go to commonsensemedia.org for age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites and books.
Best Kids & Family Movies 2021
Best Kids & Family Movies 2021. Studio adaptations of beloved children's IP primarily make up this list: Tom & Jerry, Clifford: The Big Red Dog, Flora & Ulysses, and Space Jam.But it's the true story of Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette, that is tops.Dream Horse dramatizes the triumph of an unlikely racehorse and her human family who, with little money or experience but a whole lot of ...
Best Family Movies of 2021, Ranked
This article will review some of the best family movies of 2021. 9 Ghostbusters: Afterlife Columbia Pictures. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the perfect choice for the entire family, as this film is ...
A Family
Check out the exclusive TV Guide movie review and see our movie rating for A Family
A Family Affair movie review & film summary (2024)
June 28, 2024. 4 min read. As mundane as its title, with characters whose color-by-numbers personalities and motivations shift randomly to fit a predictable storyline, "A Family Affair" is a low-wattage rom-com. As with last month's streaming romance " The Idea of You," this film features a gorgeous Oscar-winning actress as a middle ...
'Familiar Touch' Review: A Coming-of-Age Drama About Older Adulthood
Like any good coming-of-age movie, Familiar Touch never condescends. It takes its protagonist's experience with dislocation, unrequited love and the desire to be understood quite seriously.
August Wilson's 'The Piano Lesson' gets a haunting film adaptation
'The Piano Lesson' marks the Washington family's continued dedication to bringing August Wilson's plays to the big screen. Read Entertainment Weekly's review.
The Deliverance true story
The Deliverance true story. Latoya Ammons moved to a new house in Gary (Indiana) in November 2011 along with her mother, Rose Campbell, and her three children, ages 7, 9 and 12.
Shang-Chi star Simu Liu reviews his own Marvel movie
The movie grossed $432 million during its theatrical run. While not a hit as big as Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.9 billion), it made more than the other 2021 MCU releases, Black Widow ($379 million ...
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Julie Delpy discusses her latest film "Meet the barbarians," a comedy exploring the journey of a Syrian family who find refuge in a French village.
Venice review: the spartan 'Quiet Life' is an unsettling snapshot of a
The Greek weird wave man delivered a tar-black portrait of family life in 2013's Miss Violence, and his latest is an equally poor advert for parenthood. Here, he muscles in on Roy Andersson's ...
Where Was The Watchers Filmed? Fantasy Horror Movie's Filming Locations
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