Movie · 2018 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 58m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.8/10 (137.6K ratings)
Just add chaos, laughter, awkwardness, mistakes, love...
Overview
When Pete and Ellie decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of foster care adoption. They hope to take in one small child but when they meet three siblings, including a rebellious 15 year old girl, they find themselves speeding from zero to three kids overnight.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.8/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Metacritic: 57
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Sean Anders
Production
Closest to the Hole Productions, Paramount Pictures, Leverage Entertainment
Cast
Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Allyn Rachel, Isabela Merced, Julie Hagerty, Tig Notaro, Octavia Spencer, Gustavo Escobar, Margo Martindale, Julianna Gamiz, Tom Segura, Britt Rentschler, Michael O'Keefe, Jody Thompson, Iliza Shlesinger, Gary Weeks, Joy Jacobson, Hampton Fluker, Randy Havens, Andrea Anders
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, crowd-pleasing family dramedy that balances broad comedy with sincere foster-care emotion. It’s predictable in places, but the performances and the child-focused heart give it real payoff.
Best for
Viewers who like feel-good family comedies with emotional stakes
Audiences open to tearjerker moments and redemption arcs
Fans of mainstream, high-earnestness studio dramedies
Skip if
You want a subtle or especially realistic foster-care drama
You dislike sentimental humor and obvious emotional beats
You prefer sharper, more auteur-driven comedy
Overview
Instant Family is built to be accessible, and that’s part of its appeal. It takes a potentially messy, emotionally complicated subject and packages it as a mainstream comedy-drama with a lot of heart, a lot of chaos, and a clear desire to make the audience care about the kids first.
Worth noting
What works best is the ensemble energy around the children and the way the film lets the foster-to-adoption process feel overwhelming without losing its warmth. It can be very on-the-nose, and it leans hard into crowd-pleasing sentiment, but the emotional beats land because the movie earns them with specificity and patience.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for something sincere, funny, and designed to make you cry in a good way, this is an easy recommendation. If you want nuance over uplift, it may feel too polished and too neatly resolved.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Tyler Tompkins (4★) · 3784 likes
This movie had no business being as good as it was.
HannahVoyles (5★) · 2567 likes
I am also passionate about potato chips
vince (4★) · 2256 likes
crying is for losers 👎 did NOT cry 👎 never cried in my life 👎
Sean Baker · 1647 likes
Samantha Quan, who coached the kid actors on The Florida Project, went on to coach the children on this film. She obviously did a wonderful job because these kids are great. They all bring the tears.
I truly respect Sean Anders and the studio for making this film. I think it'll have a very positive impact and actually change lives. This film is about as mainstream as it gets so it'll speak to a very large audience and one of… more