Kingdom of Us

2017

1 hr. 49 min.

Documentary

Drama

TRAILER

for Kingdom of Us: Trailer 1

List

100%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lucy Cohen follows a mother and her seven children as they experience the grief of their father's suicide. She records their hardships as they attempt to recover emotionally and financially.

Read More

Read Less

Netflix

Watch Kingdom of Us with a subscription on Netflix.

bella h

This movie was so good I didn't want it to end! The family were so brave discussing their lives and didn't sugar coat anything. An honest portrayal of exactly how complex family life is.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A note: thank you to the family. Thank you for bearing your hearts and lives on camera for all to see. Thank you for your honesty, and for the powerful way in which you remind the audience of the ever-present hope in the midst of the deepest of darkness, and the heaviest of grief. Your bravery is beautiful and inspiring. Rooting for all of you.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I liked this movie, but I wanted a little more detail on the father. I guess that was not what this film was meant to do. Great use of archival video and lots of very honest talk from the family.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very deep and intimate view of a family struggling to understand, remember and wonder why a person so genetically close to them would decide to leave them so prematurely. This movie really seemed to touch areas of the loss of my own father which I still haven't fully processed and didn't even realize still existed. Despite his death being of natural causes. As a viewer, the producer and director leave you wanting to know more about the "what, how and why's" all while relating to the children who seem to also be struggling along with you. A very sad story when seen through the eyes of the kids and the effect it will likely always have on you. However, it's also a story of a strong family who realize they are all each other has. They are at first appearance, a torn broken family. However, by the end of the movie you quickly make the shift to understanding they're the opposite. One of the strongest families you've likely ever seen. Thank you to the producers, director and especially the Shank's for telling their story.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The film lacks details necessary to fully understand the family's situation or empathize with the characters. Many aspects of their life seemed to be glossed over. For example, the mother talks about wanting to shield her children more, but no details are given regarding the father's difficult behaviors (besides a couple of superficial references to him being sad when everyone else was happy) and one daughter recounting how he said she looked like a crack whore. It is not known how often the father displayed these negative behaviors and whether he had schizophrenia or some other mental illness. All of the children went to private school, but I was left wondering how the family had so much money and what the parents did to make a living. All in all, the film dragged and was actually quite boring; I kept waiting for the big bomb shell, but it never came. Overall, I felt like I was watching the surface of a deep story and the depth that was needed to fully engage with the film and the people profiled was missing. I didn't get much out of the film and was left with a lot of unanswered questions, which made me feel like I could have spent my time doing something more productive.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Rather than watching a documenter, it feels like Lucy Cohen showed us a movie. A great documentary that made me feel like I'm also going through a struggle with Vikkie and her child, allowing me to sympathize with what they're going through. Though it was wrapped in an emotional approach to enable audience empathizing with the Shanks, sometimes it made me feel like it's more like a fiction than a real thing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Lucy Cohen

Director

Jamie-Jodie Shanks

Actor

Kacie-Kimie Shanks

Actor

Lorie-Lanie Shanks

Actor

Mirie-Marie Shanks

Actor

Nikita-Nina Shanks

Actor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

100%

96%

Rewind

67%

69%

The Immortalists

92%

87%

A Syrian Love Story

100%

%

That Way Madness Lies ...

93%

88%

For the Birds

TRAILER

for For the Birds

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

2017 Fall TV Premiere Dates

Kingdom of Us: Trailer 1

1:45

View more videos

View more photos

Wendy Ide

Screen International

Documentary at its best is an organic, malleable form of filmmaking which can evolve to absorb new angles and directions. This is certainly the case with Lucy Cohen's impressive, deftly edited documentary feature debut.

Oct 8, 2017

Full Review

Emily Maskell

Flip Screen

The film is an extraordinary insight into a family coming to terms with suicide, a topic that, understandably, opens up difficult but necessary conversations.

Oct 7, 2019

Full Review

Louise Burrell

One Room With A View

As a film it is just simply too long, with the last hour lacking structure. With some serious editing this could be an even more powerful documentary.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 22, 2019

Full Review

Kayla Cobb

Decider

It offers a quiet, intimate look into one family's pain that can never quite be captured by statistics or brief human interest stories.

Dec 19, 2017

Full Review

Nathan Osborne

Film Inquiry

It's both delicate and confrontational, exploring the family unit, reactions to grief and identity with no-holds-barred access...Kingdom of Us is essential viewing

Nov 8, 2017

Full Review

Brian Costello

Common Sense Media

Raw, intense docu on family's life after father's suicide.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 24, 2017

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Lucy Cohen follows a mother and her seven children as they experience the grief of their father's suicide. She records their hardships as they attempt to recover emotionally and financially.

Director: Lucy Cohen
Executive Producer: Mary Burke, Marisa Clifford, Ben Cotner, Celine Haddad, Fergus Haycock, Lisa Nishimura, Sam Sniderman, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Steve Warr
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 13, 2017

Most Popular at Home Now