Father Mother Sister Brother (2025)

Movie · 2025 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 50m · R · English

Curator score: 3.6/10 (102.4K ratings)

Overview

Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.

Ratings

Director

Jim Jarmusch

Production

Badjetlag, Hail Mary Pictures, Saint Laurent Productions, MUBI, The Apartment Pictures, Les Films du Losange

Cast

Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore, Luka Sabbat, Françoise Lebrun, Beatrice Domond, Stephen Ostrowski, Eduardo Hoffman, Daire Mcgorman, Dave Murphy, Tom O'Reilly, Sébastien Rolando-Lapierre, Sarah Ribeiro, Philippe Azoury

Where to watch

MUBI

Curator Review

Verdict

A dry, melancholy family chamber piece with Jarmusch’s trademark deadpan humor and formal patience. It sounds more emotionally observant than plot-driven, and the strongest appeal is in its mood, performances, and quiet accumulations rather than in any big dramatic payoff.

Best for

  • fans of slow-burn ensemble dramas
  • viewers who like deadpan comedy and emotional restraint
  • people drawn to family estrangement stories
  • admirers of minimalist, observational filmmaking

Skip if

  • you want a tightly plotted story
  • you dislike elliptical or repetitive structures
  • you need overt emotional catharsis
  • you prefer energetic, joke-forward comedies

Overview

Father Mother Sister Brother appears to be Jarmusch working in a familiar key: fragmented family encounters, awkward silences, and the comedy of people who cannot quite say what they mean. The setup is simple, but the interest lies in the pauses, the repetitions, and the way ordinary objects and routines start to carry emotional weight.

Worth noting

The film seems less interested in reconciliation than in the uneasy recognition that family bonds can survive mostly as habit, guilt, and memory. That gives it a cool, rueful tone: funny in flashes, but fundamentally sad and observant.

Bottom line

If you respond to movies that treat stillness as a dramatic tool, this should land. If you need momentum or a strong narrative engine, it may feel thin, but the craft and atmosphere are likely to be the point.

Top Letterboxd reviews

omen baby (2.5★) · 2214 likes

water, rolexes and lies connect us all

itscharlibb · 1975 likes

i was charmed xx

Sean Fennessey · 1849 likes

I’m in a screening room with Charli XCX, we just watched this.

sivi (3★) · 1848 likes

wanted to cut that long piece of hair off of vicky krieps's head so fucking badly

luvi · 1691 likes

featuring cate blanchett as... NOT mother ???

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Topics

family drama, deadpan comedy, slow cinema, minimalism, estrangement, melancholy, ensemble cast, roadside interiors, indie drama, contemporary

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