Dysfunctional family movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant dysfunctional family movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, independent film, serious, emotional, sad and depressing films and TV shows about / with dysfunctional family, family problems, family relations, coming of age, youth, parents and children, husband wife relationship, father daughter relationship, mother daughter relationship and profanity plots mostly in Drama, Comedy and Thriller genres shot in USA, UK, Greece and other countries.
dysfunctional family
 5447
dysfunctional family movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as dysfunctional family: Dogtooth (2009), Mommy (2014), Visitor Q (2001), Shameless (2011), Miss Violence (2013), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The War Zone (1999), Bates Motel (2013), Manchester by the Sea (2016), This Is Where I Leave You (2014).

List of dysfunctional family movies

Type:
Year:
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 7.2
 109K
Dogtooth (2009)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Greece
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family ...
Style: disturbing, art house, black comedy, atmospheric, surreal ...
Audience: teens, adult, teen drama
Plot: incest, dysfunctional family, isolated house, cat, child abuse, brother sister incest, eccentric family, overprotective father, confined, sexual awakening, perversion, greek ...
Time: 2000s, year 2010, year 2009, 21st century
Place: greece, europe
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 61K
Mommy (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 139 min.
Story: A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.
Style: melancholic, touching, depressing, emotional, psychological ...
Audience: teens, family friendly, teen drama
Plot: dysfunctional family, oedipus complex, single mother, mentally unstable, juvenile delinquent, troubled teen, mother son relationship, mother love, teenage boy, violence, teenager, caught masturbating ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, year 2015, near future, year 2010 ...
Place: canada, quebec, montreal
Is relevant ?
 6.5
 17K
Visitor Q (2001)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min.
Story: A father who is a failed former television reporter tries to mount a documentary about violence and sex among youths. He proceeds to have sex with his daughter who is now a prostitute, and films his son being humiliated and hit by classmates. ...
Style: psychological, surreal, controversial, tense, dark comedy ...
Plot: rape, dysfunctional family, incest, sexual abuse, father daughter incest, macabre, breast feeding, heroin, sex, obsession, violent, necrophilia ...
Place: japan, asia
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 280K
Shameless (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 46 min.
TV show
Story: Chicagoan Frank Gallagher is the proud single dad of six smart, industrious, independent kids, who without him would be... perhaps better off. When Frank's not at the bar spending what little money they have, he's passed out on the floor. ...
Style: offbeat, emotional, entertaining, biting, realistic ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: dysfunctional family, youth, gay teenager, gay, bipolar disorder, family problems, teenage life, life is a bitch, siblings relations, juvenile delinquency, drinking problem, family relations ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: chicago, usa, idaho
Is relevant ?
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dialogue movies
9446
mentor movies
9688
 7.1
 10K
Miss Violence (2013)
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 98 min.
Story: On the day of her birthday, eleven-year-old Angeliki jumps off the balcony and falls to her death with a smile on her face. While the police and Social Services try to discover the reason for this apparent suicide, Angeliki's family keep ...
Style: disturbing, suspenseful, psychological, serious, cerebral ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, child prostitution, perversion, incest rape, suicide, child abuse, incest, family problems, parents and children, domineering husband, teen suicide, childhood sexual abuse ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: greece, europe, athens greece
Is relevant ?
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of ...
Style: dark comedy, funny, humorous, talky, cult classic ...
Audience: family friendly, date night
Plot: dysfunctional family, eccentricity, eccentric family, writers, forbidden love, parents and children, deadpan, incest, uptight character, reconciliation, love, satire ...
Time: year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place: usa, new york
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 11K
The War Zone (1999)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 98 min.
Story: An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.
Style: disturbing, bleak, rough, depressing, heartbreaking ...
Plot: incest, sexual abuse, father daughter incest, dysfunctional family, incestuous relationship, loneliness, mother daughter relationship, brother sister relationship, father daughter relationship, incest rape, small town, innocence lost ...
Time: year 1999, 20th century, 90s
Place: england, europe, london
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 116K
Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series ...
Style: atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, psychological, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: serial killer, motel, mental disorder, obsession, dysfunctional family, hotel, family problems, insanity, murder, small town, half brother, incestuous desire ...
Time: 2010s, 20th century
Place: oregon, usa, hawaii
Is relevant ?
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story: After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
Style: sad, depressing, heartbreaking, psychological, emotional ...
Audience: teens, family friendly, adult
Plot: family drama, sadness, loneliness, depression, loss, suicide attempt, death, nephew, grief, uncle nephew relationship, dysfunctional family, adoption ...
Time: 2010s, year 2016
Place: massachusetts, boston, nebraska, new england
Is relevant ?
This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and ...
Style: touching, humorous, independent film, emotional, melancholic ...
Audience: chick flick, teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, family drama, infidelity, family gatherings, homecoming, childhood home, death of father, children, family relations, loneliness, life & death, last wish ...
Time: year 2014, 21st century
Place: usa, new england
Is relevant ?
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
Style: melancholic, touching, emotional, depressing, sad ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: dysfunctional family, disability, self discovery, mental illness, small town, mentally challenged, responsibility, life philosophy, brothers, coming of age, family drama, family problems ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1993, 60s, 70s
Place: iowa, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 9K
Eulogy (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: A black comedy that follows three generations of a family, who come together for the funeral of the patriarch - unveiling a litany of family secrets and covert relationships.
Style: dark comedy, black comedy, absurd, stylized, cynical ...
Audience: teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, family secret, funeral, eccentric family, death in the family, lesbian, family life, family feud, parents and children, fall in love, generation gap, loss of grandfather ...
Time: year 2004, 21st century
Is relevant ?
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August: Osage County (2013)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
Style: touching, melancholic, independent film, stylized, depressing ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, suicide, cancer, family secret, mother daughter relationship, incestuous relationship, family in crisis, drug addiction, pills, addiction, funeral, brother sister incest ...
Time: year 2013, 21st century
Place: oklahoma, peru, midwest, usa
Is relevant ?
Running with Scissors (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of ...
Style: intense, disturbing, stylized, realistic, talky ...
Audience: teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, coming of age, mental illness, adoption, therapist, writers, unhappy, lgbt, family relations, lesbian, parents and children, marital problem ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, year 2006
Place: new york, seattle, massachusetts
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 1.2M
American Beauty (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Style: melancholic, thought provoking, dark comedy, sexual, dramatic ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, girls' night, kids, teen drama ...
Plot: midlife crisis, dysfunctional family, existentialism, age difference, obsession, loneliness, coming of age, older man younger woman relationship, nymphet, dysfunctional marriage, adultery, older man young girl relationship ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1999, year 2013
Place: usa, america, los angeles, iran
Is relevant ?
Ordinary People (1980)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having ...
Style: depressing, realistic, compassionate, sentimental, crying ...
Audience: teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, therapy, psychiatrist, suicide attempt, depression, grief, suicide, coming of age, father son relationship, alienation, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis ...
Time: 20th century, year 1980, 70s
Place: chicago, usa, illinois, middle east, houston texas ...
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 31K
Nobody Knows (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min.
Story: In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Style: depressing, touching, serious, atmospheric, bleak ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: childhood, poverty, dysfunctional family, boy, young kid, innocence lost, children, child abandonment, brother brother relationship, tragedy, coming of age, family relations ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: japan, tokyo, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
Beautiful Kate (2009)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: Australia
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Ned Kendall is asked to return to the remote and isolated family home by his sister, to say goodbye to his father who is dying. Ned also brings his young aspiring actress fiancee who struggles with the isolation. When home he starts having memories ...
Style: stylized, realistic, psychological, tense, disturbing ...
Plot: forbidden love, brother sister incest, dysfunctional family, incest, past, brother sister sex, taboo sex, siblings relations, homecoming, haunted by the past, incestuous relationship, secret ...
Time: 21st century
Place: australia, south australia, adelaide south australia
Is relevant ?
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The Favourite Game (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 101 min.
Story: As a kid, Leo thought he possessed, like a magician, the secret power to make things happen. As a young man, he certainly knows how to make things happen with women. But as his best friend Krantz would say to him, "Why do you always ask ...
Style: psychological, captivating, serious, realistic, erotic
Plot: dysfunctional family, road trip, flashback, summer camp, self discovery, womanizer, wooing, cheating wife, adultery, children, abusive father, making love ...
Place: canada
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 116K
Precious (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, ...
Style: bleak, depressing, emotional, rough, sad ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: rape, dysfunctional family, sexual abuse, teacher, poverty, child abuse, aids, illiteracy, domestic violence, african american, life is a bitch, parents and children ...
Time: 2000s, 20th century, year 1987, 80s
Place: new york, america, harlem, new york city, usa, harlem ...
Is relevant ?
 8.2
 43K
Animal Kingdom (2016)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: The series centers on 17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody, who moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. Headed by boot-tough matriarch Janine "Smurf" ...
Style: tense, exciting, captivating, erotic, sexy ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: criminal, crime family, danger, heist, dysfunctional family, family conflict, escapades, gay brother, twists and turns, brother brother relationship, friendship, ex convict ...
Time: 2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place: usa, southern california, california
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 97K
Thirteen (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before ...
Style: tense, teen, realistic, sincere, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, girls' night, teen drama, adult
Plot: coming of age, drug addiction, teenager, peer pressure, friendship, addiction, dysfunctional family, teenage protagonist, underage drinking, teenage girl, mother daughter relationship, self harm ...
Time: year 2003, y2k, near future, 20th century, 2000s ...
Place: california, usa, los angeles, venice beach california
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 60K
The Ice Storm (1997)
Genre: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: In the weekend after thanksgiving 1973 the Hoods are skidding out of control. Benjamin Hood reels from drink to drink, trying not to think about his trouble at the office. His wife, Elena, is reading self help books and losing patience with her ...
Style: depressing, realistic, existential, visually appealing, cerebral ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: dysfunctional family, snow, thanksgiving, extramarital affair, coming of age, mate swapping, swinger, adultery, sexual exploration, infidelity, sexual awakening, family relations ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1997, 90s, year 1973
Place: new york, connecticut, usa, grand central station manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
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Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
Style: road movie, feel good, funny, melancholic, independent film ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, girls' night, kids, family friendly ...
Plot: road trip, dysfunctional family, on the road, nothing goes right, loser, gay, obsessive quest, family relations, escapades, journey, suicide attempt, coming of age ...
Time: year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place: california, arizona, los angeles, nebraska, albuquerque new mexico ...
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 23K
Junebug (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: On the way to meet with an independent artist in the South, newlywed art dealer Madeleine is convinced by her husband, George, that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina. Madeleine's affluent lifestyle clashes with the family, ...
Style: independent film, humorous, emotional, sentimental, semi serious ...
Plot: pregnancy, dysfunctional family, painting, art, small town, eccentricity, jealousy, eccentric family, love and romance, social differences, meet the parents, parents and children ...
Time: year 2005, 2000s, 21st century
Place: north carolina, chicago, usa, southern usa
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 15K
Lymelife (2008)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his ...
Style: sexy, romantic, talky, touching, serious ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, coming of age, american dream, infidelity, marital problem, first love, violence, marriage, teenage love, family problems, family life, love and romance ...
Time: year 2008, 20th century, 70s
Place: new york, usa
Is relevant ?
White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Kat Connors is 17 years old when her perfect homemaker mother, Eve, disappears. Having lived for so long in an emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother's absence and certainly doesn't blame her doormat of a father, ...
Style: sexy, surreal, independent film, stylized, cynical ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: missing person, coming of age, teenage girl, dysfunctional family, recurring dream, female nudity, mysterious disappearance, teenage life, mother daughter relationship, gay interest, disappearance, 17 year old ...
Time: year 1988, 20th century, 80s, year 1991, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 251K
The Descendants (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron, Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
Style: touching, depressing, emotional, sad, tragicomedy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: infidelity, dysfunctional family, father daughter relationship, teenage daughter, dying mother, bittersweet, family relations, cheating wife, greed, parenthood, family drama, estate ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: hawaii, usa, iran
Is relevant ?
 6.1
 121K
Vacation (2015)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: Hoping to bring his family closer together and to recreate his childhood vacation for his own kids, a grown up Rusty Griswold takes his wife and their two sons on a cross-country road trip to the coolest theme park in America, Walley World. Needless ...
Style: funny, humorous, hilarious, realistic, not serious ...
Audience: teens, family outing, girls' night
Plot: road trip, dysfunctional family, vacation, family vacation, amusement park, highway travel, father son relationship, on the road, brother brother relationship, grand canyon, brother sister relationship, family relations ...
Time: year 2015, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, chicago, arizona, san francisco, memphis
Is relevant ?
The Glass Castle (2017)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story: A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire ...
Style: sentimental, sad, emotional, thought provoking, captivating ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, father daughter relationship, painting, funeral, restaurant, hospital, alcoholic, pride, family conflict, biopic, writers, female protagonist ...
Time: year 2017, year 1989, year 1964
Place: nebraska, new york, lower east side manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city, west virginia ...
Is relevant ?
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