Everything is in its proper place... except the past.
Overview
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.7/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 4.04/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 86
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Robert Redford
Production
Paramount Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises
Cast
Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, M. Emmet Walsh, Elizabeth McGovern, Dinah Manoff, Fredric Lehne, James B. Sikking, Basil Hoffman, Quinn K. Redeker, Mariclare Costello, Meg Mundy, Elizabeth Hubbard, Adam Baldwin, Richard Whiting, Scott Doebler, Carl DiTomasso, Tim Clarke, Ken Dishner
Where to watch
MGM Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A quietly devastating family drama about grief, repression, and the damage people do when they cannot speak honestly. It’s especially strong for viewers who like intimate performances, therapy-centered storytelling, and emotionally precise domestic conflict.
Best for
fans of serious character-driven dramas
viewers interested in grief, depression, and family dysfunction
people who appreciate restrained but powerful performances
audiences drawn to therapy and healing narratives
Skip if
you want a fast-moving plot or big twists
you prefer upbeat or cathartic dramas
you dislike emotionally heavy family conflict
you want a highly stylized or visually flashy film
Overview
Ordinary People is one of the defining American family dramas of its era, and it earns that reputation through restraint. Robert Redford keeps the filmmaking calm and observant, letting the emotional pressure build in small gestures, silences, and awkward conversations rather than melodramatic outbursts. The result is a film that feels painfully lived-in.
Worth noting
The performances are the engine here. Donald Sutherland gives the film its wounded center, Mary Tyler Moore makes emotional denial feel chillingly precise, and Judd Hirsch brings warmth and clarity without turning therapy into a miracle cure. The movie understands that grief can harden into habit, and that families can become experts at avoiding the truth.
Bottom line
What lingers most is how honest it is about depression, guilt, and the limits of love when people cannot communicate. It’s not an easy watch, but it is a deeply rewarding one, and it still feels unusually mature in the way it treats mental health and family collapse.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Lise (4.5★) · 1858 likes
Ordinary People came out in a non-snowy month in 1980. I know this because I walked home after the movie, even though I lived quite a hike away and it was an easy walk (I didn't have to walk carefully as I would on snow or ice).
It was nothing like the previous films I had seen. My previous favourite film was Grease, probably because it was the first film I'd seen on my own with friends; it wasn't a… more
#1 gizmo fan (5★) · 1556 likes
the best movie about mental illness ever made? why is this not more talked about?
Laura (4★) · 1333 likes
when i was in high school, i dropped out of my calculus class so i could start going to therapy once a week. my dad would drop me off every friday morning, would go get breakfast when i had my appointment, and be there waiting for me to take me to school once i was done. i would then go to school like nothing happened, just trying to keep moving. i started going because the year before, my closest childhood… more when i was in high school, i dropped out of my calculus class so i could start going to therapy once a week. my dad would drop me off every friday morning, would go get breakfast when i had my appointment, and be there waiting for me to take me to school once i was done. i would then go to school like nothing happened, just trying to keep moving. i started going because the year before, my closest childhood… more
lauren (4.5★) · 774 likes
there's nothing ordinary about how much i cried
eely (4★) · 716 likes
that sun-dappled therapy scene where conrad is draped over the armchair and his therapist is smoking a cigarette and you can see the smoke drifting through the sunrays and then the camera pushes in on conrad lit all orange and he’s trying so hard to explain how he feels but just can’t grasp at the right words: beautiful. i replayed it five times.