Sibling Synergy: Best Books and Movies About Brothers and Sisters
Posted on April 17, 2024
by Amy H
Growing up, we make each other crazy, but most of us find ways to appreciate having siblings as we move through adulthood. Here are some great movies/series featuring siblings all along the love/hate spectrum.
siblings by Nick Kelsh
Few things are as fun as cute pics of kiddos doing kiddo stuff. This fun book celebrates the bonds of siblinghood in adorable and likely much better-looking ways than most of us have in our historical photos.
the skeleton twins
A set of twins who haven't spoken in ten years attempt to mend their relationship when they both cheat death on the same day. Darkly funny and compelling and the cast is wonderful.
sunshine cleaning
Rose is a single mother who works a mundane job as a maid. Once the head cheerleader in school with plenty of prospects, Rose now has little to show for her life. When her son is expelled from public school, Rose takes a job as a bio-hazard crime-scene cleaner to help pay for a private education. She brings her sister Norah in to help the steadily growing business which is almost as calamity prone as the disasters they try to remedy. As the sisters work to clean up the messes left behind by the chaotic lives of others, they must learn to reconcile their own differences and overcome a troubled past if they hope to prosper in their newfound venture.
the umbrella academy
On the same day in 1989, forty-three infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by a billionaire who creates The Umbrella Academy and prepares his "children" to save the world. Now grown up, the six surviving members reunite upon the news of their adoptive father's passing and must work together to solve a mystery surrounding his death.
little women
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel about four sisters growing up after the Civil War, the March sisters are four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms. This super-fresh interpretation by Greta Gerwig (who also directed the popular Barbie movie) is a joy to watch.
the sisters brothers
Based on Patrick DeWitt's novel. A gold prospector is being pursued across a thousand miles of 1850s Oregon desert hoping to reach to San Francisco, by the notorious assassins and brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters. Eli is having a personal crisis and beginning to doubt the longevity of his chosen career. And the prospector might have a better offer. Also streaming in Hoopla.
the blues brothers
Jake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic orphanage where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
the kind words
In the wake of their mother’s death, three Jewish Israeli siblings learn the man who raised them is not their biological dad. The revelation sends them on a road trip from Israel across France to discover the truth about their real father.
knives out
A brilliantly inquisitive detective investigates the death of the patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. The casting is wonderful, and the mystery is amazingly complex with unexpected twists you won't see coming.
this is where i leave you
After their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes, and might-have-beens.
rain man
After a selfish L.A. man learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
montana story
Two estranged siblings return home to the sprawling ranch they once knew and loved, confronting a deep and bitter family legacy against a mythic American backdrop.
savages
Jon and Wendy, siblings who have spent their lives trying to recover from their treatment at the hands of an abusive father, suddenly learn that he cannot care for himself because of his dementia. Despite the fact Jon and Wendy have not spoken to him for twenty years and he is even more loathsome than ever, the Savage siblings feel obliged to take care of him. Now together, brother and sister must come to terms with the new and painful responsibilities with their father now affecting their lives as they struggle with their own personal demons.
sweet thing
Billie is a 15-year-old girl who fantasizes Billie Holiday as a sort of fairy godmother and plays mother to her younger brother, Nico. Meeting up with their friend Malik, they run away from home to roam free from their neglectful parents, discovering freedom and enchantment among boats and railway tracks.
you can count on me
A single mother's life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely seen younger brother returns to town.
the wolfpack
A documentary film. Confined in an apartment from a New York housing project, the six Angulo brothers learned everything they knew about the world through watching films and spending their time reenacting their favorite movies with intricate homemade costumes.
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