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      Next of Kin

      1984 1h 12m Comedy Drama List
      Reviews 66% Audience Score 100+ Ratings Depressed and alienated from his family, Peter Foster (Patrick Tierney) submits to a form of therapy in which he is videotaped interacting with his parents. When the video is played back for Peter to watch, he also gets to view the taped session of another family, the Deryans. When he realizes that, at age 23, he is the same age as the child put up for adoption two decades earlier by the Deryans, he feels compelled to leave his family -- and join the Deryans. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Kent Turner Film-Forward.com Next of Kin is an exceptional first film: strong writing, acting and camera work, made for only 20,000 Canadian dollars in 15 days. Rated: 3.5/5 Feb 7, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member This is the film that should hold a label insapirational attached to it. If you're young, or else if you remeber your young adult life, you will surely like it because you'll feel that you understand the main character completely. Who didn't think at least once in his life that his parents were alients and that by some huge mistake/mockery of universe he, the great, the extraordinary examplar of human race has landed into a most mundane family on Earth? Who didn't want to change these two poor insults that like to call themselves your parents for some other, more interesting or simply more affectionate, understanding ones? Who didn't pretend, largely because of their fault, to be someone else, to be somewhere else? The difference between you and me and the main bloke in this film, Peter, is that he actually did just that. He swapped his middle class uptight family for a simple, loving, Armenian one, by pretending to be their missing son Pedros. On the other hand, if you are aspiring film director, with no film under your arm to call your own product of your extraordinary imagination, this is a great film to see. For educational, inspirational purposes. To get the idea how to make of a low-budget 70 min. film exploiting a rather common subject a work of art. How to film airports and luggage pick-ups so to instill in them the main idea of change that's about to happen, or simply to make some memorable shots. How to make a very successfull use of off voice, and of our own obsession with modern communication technology for self-explorational/exibitional purposes , that is, how to 'play' with camcorders and voice-recorders(the year is 1984!). The film is not however perfect. After a great opening and great plot development, somewhere around ahalf of the film, you will experience a slight fall of your interest, which will be regained at the end. But perfect though it's not, it's definetlely worth watching! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member This is very good filmmaking. It's not the prettiest looking film and the performances aren't going to win any awards, but the script is superb and Egoyan knows how to tell a compelling story. Personal, surprising, and fascinating. Very good. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a movie about "pretending" and love. Best Atom Egoyan. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member There's nothing slick or even remotely commercial about this film and remains an important early milestone in the career of an important, talented, and very bizarre voice in independent film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review walter m [font=Century Gothic]In "Next of Kin", Peter(Patrick Tierney) is a shy, 23-year old man living with his upper-middle class parents. His only activity is pretending and his listless lifestyle has so worried his parents, that they have gone to family counseling which is videotaped. When he returns to watch the tape of the session, Peter also watches the tape of an immigrant family in turmoil.(A son was put up for adoption and the father disapproves strongly of his daughter's lifestyle.) At the next counseling session, Peter announces his attention to take a vacation which everybody agrees to but his true aim is to visit the immigrant family and pretend to be their long lost son, Petros. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Next of Kin" is an absorbing and intriguing movie with a surprising ending about family and what it means to be part of one. But the movie gets off to a very awkward start in trying to explain its premise and it is a little hard to understand the dubious morality of the central character.[/font] Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Next of Kin

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Depressed and alienated from his family, Peter Foster (Patrick Tierney) submits to a form of therapy in which he is videotaped interacting with his parents. When the video is played back for Peter to watch, he also gets to view the taped session of another family, the Deryans. When he realizes that, at age 23, he is the same age as the child put up for adoption two decades earlier by the Deryans, he feels compelled to leave his family -- and join the Deryans.
      Director
      Atom Egoyan
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jun 26, 2001
      Runtime
      1h 12m