Instant Families: a movie review by Toni Susskind
When I first heard about Instant Families staring Mark Wahlberg as Pete and Australian Rose Byrne as Ellie, I thought, here we go again, another formulaic Rom-Com about a gorgeous couple adopting three very cute children. I was pleasantly surprised to see how wrong I was.
A scene from Instant Families
Although the movie is a comedy, it also chooses to tackle the very real issue of fostering unwanted and unloved children. Don’t get me wrong, the movie still has some seriously funny moments, such as when the klutzy middle child keeps hurting himself, however, it is tempered by the reality of the situation.
Inspired by the real events of writer/director Sean Anders, the movie focuses on a couple fostering three children and the adjustments that come with it. The movie does not shy away from tackling the heavy questions, such as “how would you feel if you were moved from place to place, never quite knowing if this was to be home or temporary accommodation,” or “would constant displacement affect your capacity to trust people?”
A particularly sad moment comes when the children place a garbage bag full of Teddy Bears in their new bedroom. The foster parents who don’t know any better say, “Look at all the teddies,” whilst the eldest replies, “yeh, my little brother and sister get a new one every time we go to court.”
That is what this film is about, showing the world that fostering can be a challenge for both parents and the children, yet all children deserve a family to call their own.
Instant Families. A sweet comedy about the very real issue of orphaned or abandoned children.
7/10
