[Pictured: Junebug, 2005 Sundance Film Festival]
By Stephanie Ornelas
There’s no place like home for the holidays, even if it’s not exactly your home. We all have a story about going home to meet someone’s family (or someone meeting yours) for the first time. While events like these are often memorable, there’s no doubt they can be nerve-wracking and dramatic — like a scene straight from a movie. Gear up for the season and check out one of these six hilarious, mind-boggling, and sometimes outrageous films about going home (or trying to go home) to meet the family, available to stream now.
These crazy stories — introduced to audiences at previous Sundance Film Festivals — will make you laugh, jump out of your seat, and maybe feel thankful if you’ve already made it through this stage with your partner. Either way, there’s a good chance your holidays may not be as bizarre as some of these six films:
2 Days in New York (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
For Marion and Mingus (Chris Rock and Julie Deply), the family chaos comes to their house in 2 Days in New York. The couple is happy and content living with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. However when Marion’s crazy family abruptly crashes their small New York apartment, it initiates two unforgettable days that will test Marion and Mingus’s relationship. (Available to stream on Hulu, Amazon Prime, fuboTV, and Google Play)
Bushwick (2017 Sundance Film Festival)
In this drama, the main character’s biggest hurdle is just getting to her family’s house in one piece — assuming it’s still there. Lucy is on her way to her grandmother’s house with a new boyfriend in tow, but when she steps off the subway, she’s faced with an utter bloodbath on the streets of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. She’s forced to take shelter in the basement of a burly war veteran who reluctantly helps her traverse the treacherous five-block stretch to reach her Grandmother’s house. (Available to stream on Vudu and AppleTV)
Get Out (2017 Sundance Film Festival, 2019 Sundance Institute Summer Film Series)
Now that Chris and Rose (Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams) have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with her parents. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behaviour as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries leads him to an unimaginable truth. (Available to stream on Hulu, AppleTV, and Vudu)
The House of Yes (1997 Sundance Film Festival)
This film introduces us to the affluent Pascal family as they prepare for their formal Thanksgiving dinner. Marty, the absent member of the family, returns with his new fiancée Lesley, weathering a storm to get back on solid terms with his family. Lesley knows little about the dysfunctional family, only that they have a few quirks. (Available to stream on Vudu and AppleTV)
Junebug (2005 Sundance Film Festival, 2009 Sundance Institute Film Series)
Meeting someone’s family can give you greater insight into that person’s character. That’s what happens with Madeleine and George in Junebug. Newlywed art dealer Madeleine is convinced by her husband that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina on the way to meet with an independent artist in the South. Madeleine’s affluent lifestyle clashes with the family, but she befriends his wide-eyed and pregnant sister-in-law, Ashley (Amy Adams), who is nearing her due date. (Available to watch on Amazon Prime and Apple TV)
Some Girls (1989 Sundance Film Festival)
Michael (Patrick Dempsey), a young American traveler, arrives in Quebec to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, Gabriella (Jennifer Connely). He meets her bizarre family — her two sisters, her beautiful mother, and her eccentric, brilliant father. A stranger in a very odd, comical land, Michael is harassed and rejected, and eventually discovers love in a quarter he never expected. (Available to watch on Tubi)
