22 Family Movies Not To Watch With Your Family On Thanksgiving

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Rachel Getting Married

This movie employs some amazing filmmaking tricks so that, although it is fiction, it feels very much like we’re watching a documentary. The camera sort of wanders around the family’s home, scenes run longer than we’re used to, dialog seems natural and unrehearsed, and, most interestingly, all the music we hear in the film comes only from within the world of the film. I tell you this not to sell you on the watchability of this movie, but to warn you that you’ll likely get way more wrapped up than you’d anticipated.

As the title refuses to leave to the imagination, this film centers around the weekend in which Rachel is getting married. Rachel is sister to Kym, a troubled woman haunted by the actions of her past that have been caused by her addictions, which have landed her in rehab much of her adult life. She is released for the weekend, for Rachel’s wedding, and of course, all of the family’s pain, heartache, guilt, and blame for each other becomes almost unbearable. It’s a heavy movie, with more secrets than we often see in hyper-realistic films like this one, but also much more heart than the overpowering drama would have you believe. Watch when you’re in the mood for darkness, pain, familial rift, and/or Anne Hathaway’s best work.

Especially avoid if: You’re the black sheep of your family, or you’re worried you are. Though Kym’s past mistakes account for much of the anger and underlying disdain her family feels for her, it’s clear that she’s also just like that as a person. Watching a person who feels like an inevitable outcast and utterly unlovable won’t do much to quell your fears if you’ve ever felt an ounce of the same family-centered self-loathing.