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The Family I Had

Play trailer Poster for The Family I Had 2017 1h 17m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A mother recounts how her seemingly ideal family was shattered after her brilliant son committed a violent act.
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The Family I Had

Critics Reviews

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Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com 12/20/2017
3/4
The filmmakers never lose sight of the human beings looking for answers to impossible questions. Go to Full Review
Jason Bailey Flavorwire 05/05/2017
The Family I Had sensitively and emotionally engages with the enormity and complexity of this situation, which transcends true crime and approaches Greek tragedy, and it just plain knocks the wind out of you. Go to Full Review
Chuck Bowen Slant Magazine 04/23/2017
Katie Green and Carlye Rubin's film documents the transferrable perversities inherent in familial life. Go to Full Review
Alan Ng Film Threat 03/20/2018
3.5/5
The Family I Had makes no attempt to be political or force an issue down your throat. It simply presents the facts and feelings as they are. You decide right and wrong, good and evil, justice and forgiveness. Go to Full Review
Nathanael Hood The Young Folks 04/28/2017
8/10
By the end I was consumed with an aching love and sorrow for this family; I wanted to bring wholeness to their brokenness. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mike P Jun 4 Heart-wrenching documentary about the Bennett family: where 13 year old Paris brutally murdered his 4 year old sister Ella in revenge against his mother, Charity, a drug addict, for relapsing. It's painful to watch this family; most painful to witness Charity's futility as she continually "dusts herself off, and soldiers on" in the face of all this horror. Horrific also to contemplate the devastation of mental illness, especially psychopathy; and witness the tragedy it has wrought in society. Very earnest, painful, heartfelt stuff. Recommended See more Courtney K @c0urtn3y May 18 gosh; i had read that this documentary was a really hard watch - & while the crime is absolutely awful, I agree, this was not a 'really hard watch'. i found the documentary to be quite boring actually - there was no mystery/suspence/build up to anything. "the event" happens right away & everyone just talks about how awful it was after the fact. there was no story-telling or something.... idk. yes, the story is terrible. but the documentary is also terrible. It didn't paint any of the family members in a good light at all either... See more Ernest R Feb 22 This film hits hard and any parent, male or female, can't imagine how this could tax your brain 17 years later; as a dad I get it. There is another similar movie starring Tilda Swindon called "We need to talk about Kevin" is fictional but leaves you feeling hopeless, like in end of "Eden Lake". Keep your family close, then keep your family closer. See more Oaklee D @ODie63 Dec 31 An interesting documentary about a more then confronting subject and the impact on the people left behind. See more Kerry S 08/21/2023 A family and son who did nothing to prevent this murder. The movie tries to make the viewer empathize with them when they are to blame. Poor Ella. See more blue c 05/12/2023 A third of the way through the tears came and didn't stop. This is a profoundly sad story about people surviving an unbearable tragedy and trying to keep loving the perpetrator. See more Read all reviews
The Family I Had

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A mother recounts how her seemingly ideal family was shattered after her brilliant son committed a violent act.
Director
Katie Green, Carlye Rubin
Producer
Katie Green, Carlye Rubin
Production Co
Motto Pictures
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 21, 2018
Runtime
1h 17m
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