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A Family Affair is a 2024 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard LaGravenese and written by Carrie Solomon. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, and Kathy Bates. The film revolves around a widowed writer who begins a relationship with a young actor for whom her daughter works. It was released by Netflix on June 28, 2024.
Plot
24-year-old Zara, the personal assistant to self-absorbed actor Chris Cole, is tired of being under appreciated. She is expected to help him when he breaks up with women, and he doesn't heed her advice to get a different writer to rewrite a bad script. When Chris changes the gate code on her while she is talking to a writer, Zara quits.
A short time later, Chris goes to Zara's house to offer her an assistant producer position as he misses her but instead finds her widowed author mother Brooke, as Zara is running errands. Deciding to wait for her, he explains to Brooke that his script is bad, and they soon hit it off. By the time Zara returns, she unwittingly walks in on Brooke and Chris having sex.
Chris promises Zara it won't happen again, so Zara returns to work for him as associate producer. He invites Brooke to dinner, and they again connect intimately.
Zara discovers that Chris hired Brooke as his new writer and confronts them at a gala. Brooke says she's happy with Chris and hasn't been this happy since she was with her husband, disregarding her daughter's pain and her concern he will hurt Brooke as he often does with fans who date him.
The family and Chris visit Brooke's mother-in-law Leila's house for Christmas. Leila convinces Zara to let her mom have fun. Brooke tells her mother-in-law that she was having relationship problems with Zara's dad even before he died, and Zara overhears this conversation. Later, while putting bags in the car, Zara notices diamond earrings in Chris's bag.
At home, Zara tells Brooke and Chris how bad Chris is, claiming that he buys the same earrings for everyone he breaks up with and already has a pair ready. This revelation prompts Brooke to ask Chris to leave.
Later, at the studio, Zara is asked to find Chris, who is upset and alone. Chris confides in her, expressing doubt about playing the good guy. He clarifies that he wasn't planning to break up with Brooke; he just forgot the earrings were in his bag because he often ends relationships impulsively. Zara then goes to Brooke, admitting she was wrong about Chris, but Brooke refuses to listen.
Zara orchestrates an encounter between her, Chris, and Brooke at the supermarket, explains her mistake, and apologizes to them. Following this reconciliation, Chris and Brooke get back together. A year later, their relationship is still going strong. Zara has been further promoted as a producer working with Chris, and their relationship is also strong.
In a promotional interview, Efron stated that the film's working script title was Motherfucker, which Kidman clarified was "beeped out", with both laughing about the title keeping the script "at the top of the pile".[6] The wording was cleaned up and included in a byline on the film poster, as "A Motherf*&#er of a Love Story."[7] Joey King's character was inspired by Pamela Abdy, a friend of Richard LaGravenese who is currently co-chair and co-CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.[8]
Filming
Filming took place in Atlanta from August to October 2022.[9][10]
A Family Affair was originally scheduled to be released by Netflix on November 17, 2023.[13] However, the release of the film was postponed due to the impact of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike on the film's promotion.[14] In April 2024, the finalized release date of June 28, 2024 was announced.[15]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of 98 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Despite Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman's welcome return to rom-com territory, A Family Affair squabbles with its own tonality too much to elevate its litany of clichés."[16]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 43 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[17]
Tomris Laffly of Variety criticized the film in various aspects, from the acting as having "little chemistry", to the directing as "oddly rigid and dull", to the production design as inauthentic.[18] William Bibbiani of TheWrap mentioned that "It’s almost worth watching for Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman’s magnetism alone. If by 'almost' you mean 'not really.'"[19] Tania Hussain of Collider noted that the film "struggles to find its footing and unique style without ever standing out like the streamer’s previous originals", it "never finds its authenticity" and it "just never feels natural."[20]
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performance of Kidman and Efron as having "a decently sweet chemistry that’s nothing like the tawdry dynamic they flaunted in The Paperboy".[21] Pete Hammond of Deadline also noted that the highlight of the film was the chemistry between Kidman and Efron and that audiences "instantly believe the chemistry despite the 21-year age difference between the two stars."[22]
Despite noting that the film "is not as fun as the premise initially promises, and no amount of star power can fix that", Mireia Mullor of Digital Spy pointed out that "the scene-stealer of the film, though, is Kathy Bates' Leila, Brooke's mother-in-law, and Zara's grandmother" due to her warm performance.[23] Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast, on the one hand, criticized the script as one of the weakest points of the film since "the balance between comedy and drama is not Solomon’s strong suit, and her script bounces between the two with frustrating incompetence." On the other hand, he praised the chemistry between Kidman and Efron.[24]
Karl Quinn of The Sydney Morning Herald rated the film 2½ stars and noted that "In the end, [the film] plays like nothing so much as a better-produced and (mostly) better-acted version of the sort of rom-com the streaming production line has been pumping out in recent years. Cue the sunsets, beaches, candle-lit dinners, and endless costume changes. It’s generic, predictable, mildly enjoyable, and instantly forgettable."[25] Critic Jamie Tram of ABC News said that the film "inexplicably makes the prospect of dating a famous actor seem hideously dull. The strategy behind these films seems less concerned with showcasing its acting talent, and more focused on assembling a cast that can look enticing on a thumbnail. Kidman and Efron merely exist to sell the illusion of prestige."[26]
Audience viewership
Despite mixed reviews, the film debuted as the #1 Netflix original on the weekend of its release, according to the rankings from Netflix's domestic daily chart published on July 1, 2024.[27] The film garnered 26.8 million views since its launch on June 28, 2024.[28] According to Netflix's domestic daily chart released on July 8, 2024, the film held steady at #2 among Netflix originals during its second weekend of release.[29] It accumulated 31.9 million views in its first full week of availability, an increase from 26.8 million views the previous week.[30] The film held the #5 position in its third and fourth weeks,[31] generating an additional 11.6 million and 5.5 million views, respectively.[32][33] In its fifth week, the film secured the #7 spot, garnering an additional 3.3 million views.[34]
