Highest-Rated Movies about 'Dysfunctional Family'

The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Back to the Future (1985), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), American History X (1998), The Lion King (1994), The Shining (1980), Autumn Sonata (1978) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Dysfunctional Family movies.

#1. The Godfather (1972)

Storyline: The Godfather "Don" Vito Corleone is the head of the Corleone mafia family in New York. He is at the event of his daughter's wedding. Michael, Vito's youngest son and a decorated WW II Marine is also present at the wedding. Michael seems to be uninterested in being a part of the family business. Vito is a powerful man, and is kind to all those who give him respect but is ruthless against those who do not. But when a powerful and treacherous rival wants to sell drugs and needs the Don's influence for the same, Vito refuses to do it. What follows is a clash between Vito's fading old values and the new ways which may cause Michael to do the thing he was most reluctant in doing and wage a mob war against all the other mafia families which could tear the Corleone family apart.

Plot Keywords: mafia, patriarch, mob boss, violence, part of trilogy, rise to power, organized crime ...

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#2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Storyline: The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

Plot Keywords: revenge, bloody body of child, corrupt politician, mafia, moral corruption, brutality, dysfunctional family ...

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#3. Back to the Future (1985)

Storyline: Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean "time machine" invented by a slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love - so he can get back to the future.

Plot Keywords: time travel, time machine, future, time travel comedy, altering history, clock tower, alternate history ...

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#4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Storyline: Over 10 years have passed since the first robot called The Terminator tried to kill Sarah Connor and her unborn son, John. The man who will become the future leader of the human resistance against the Machines is now a healthy young boy. However, another Terminator, called the T-1000, is sent back through time by the supercomputer Skynet. This new Terminator is more advanced and more powerful than its predecessor and its mission is to kill John Connor when he's still a child. However, Sarah and John do not have to face the threat of the T-1000 alone. Another Terminator (identical to the same model that tried and failed to kill Sarah Conner in 1984) is also sent back through time. This Terminator has been reprogrammed by the future Resistance on the orders of adult John. This Terminator's mission is to protect John and Sarah Connor at all costs. The battle for tomorrow has begun.

Plot Keywords: time travel, male nudity, villain turns good, mother son relationship, artificial intelligence, sequel, future ...

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#5. American History X (1998)

Storyline: Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for brutally killing two black men who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother's, Danny Vineyard, narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Plot Keywords: neo nazi, jail, hatred, tearjerker, prison, female nudity, anal rape ...

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#6. The Lion King (1994)

Storyline: A young lion prince is cast out of his pride by his cruel uncle, who claims he killed his father. While the uncle rules with an iron paw, the prince grows up beyond the Savannah, living by a philosophy: No worries for the rest of your days. But when his past comes to haunt him, the young prince must decide his fate: Will he remain an outcast or face his demons and become what he needs to be?

Plot Keywords: africa, king, lion, talking animal, no opening credits, dark past, death in family ...

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#7. The Shining (1980)

Storyline: Signing a contract, Jack Torrance, a normal writer and former teacher agrees to take care of a hotel which has a long, violent past that puts everyone in the hotel in a nervous situation. While Jack slowly gets more violent and angry of his life, his son, Danny, tries to use a special talent, the "Shining", to inform the people outside about whatever that is going on in the hotel.

Plot Keywords: labyrinth, identical twins, hotel, breaking down a door, snow, typewriter, based on the works of stephen king ...

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#8. Autumn Sonata (1978)

Storyline: After having neglected her children for many years, world famous pianist Charlotte visits her daughter Eva in her home. To her surprise she finds her other daughter, Helena, there as well. Helena is mentally disabled, and Eva has taken Helena out of the institution where their mother had placed her. The tension between Charlotte and Eva only builds up slowly, until a nightly conversation releases all the things they have wanted to tell each other.

Plot Keywords: pianist, dysfunctional family, mother daughter estrangement, mother daughter relationship, loss of son, letter, reconciliation ...

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#9. Incendies (2010)

Storyline: A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Plot Keywords: family relationships, christian, based on play, brother sister relationship, mother son relationship, middle east, university ...

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#11. Udaan (2010)

Storyline: After being abandoned for eight straight years in boarding school, Rohan returns to the small industrial town of Jamshedpur and finds himself closeted with an authoritarian father and a younger half brother who he didn't even know existed. Forced to work in his father's steel factory and study engineering against his wishes, he strives to forge his own life out of his given circumstances and pursue his dream of being a writer.

Plot Keywords: father son conflict, domineering father, alcoholic father, tyranny, absent father, abusive father, father son relationship ...

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#12. Heat (1995)

Storyline: Hunters and their prey--Neil and his professional criminal crew hunt to score big money targets (banks, vaults, armored cars) and are, in turn, hunted by Lt. Vincent Hanna and his team of cops in the Robbery/Homicide police division. A botched job puts Hanna onto their trail while they regroup and try to put together one last big 'retirement' score. Neil and Vincent are similar in many ways, including their troubled personal lives. At a crucial moment in his life, Neil disobeys the dictum taught to him long ago by his criminal mentor--'Never have anything in your life that you can't walk out on in thirty seconds flat, if you spot the heat coming around the corner'--as he falls in love. Thus the stage is set for the suspenseful ending....

Plot Keywords: gun battle, honor, gunfight, armored car robbery, bank, organized crime, airplane ...

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#13. Raging Bull (1980)

Storyline: When Jake LaMotta steps into a boxing ring and obliterates his opponent, he's a prizefighter. But when he treats his family and friends the same way, he's a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. Though LaMotta wants his family's love, something always seems to come between them. Perhaps it's his violent bouts of paranoia and jealousy. This kind of rage helped make him a champ, but in real life, he winds up in the ring alone.

Plot Keywords: jealousy, rage, domestic violence, italian american, nightclub, underage drinking, brother brother relationship ...

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#14. Chinatown (1974)

Storyline: In 1937 Los Angeles, private investigator Jake 'J.J.' Gittes specializes in cheating-spouse cases. His current target is Hollis Mulwray, high-profile chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, whose wife suspects him of infidelity. In following Mulwray, Gittes witnesses some usual business dealings, such as a public meeting for construction of a new dam to create additional water supply for Los Angeles, as fresh water is vital to the growing community during the chronic drought; Mulwray opposes the dam. Eventually Gittes sees Mulwray meeting with an unknown young woman who isn't his wife. Once news of the supposed tryst between Mulwray and this woman hits the media, additional information comes to light that makes Gittes believe that Mulwray is being framed for something and that he himself is being set up. In his investigation of the issue behind Mulwray's framing and his own setup, Gittes is assisted by Mulwray's wife Evelyn, but he thinks she isn't being ...

Plot Keywords: neo noir, female nudity, murder, surveillance, femme fatale, adultery, incestuous relationship ...

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#15. Mommy (2014)

Storyline: Forty-six year old Diane Després - "Die" - has been widowed for three years. Considered white trash by many, Die does whatever she needs, including strutting her body in front of male employers who will look, to make an honest living. That bread-winning ability is affected when she makes the decision to remove her only offspring, fifteen year old Steve Després, from her previously imposed institutionalization, one step below juvenile detention. She institutionalized him shortly following her husband's death due to Steve's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and his violent outbursts. He was just kicked out of the latest in a long line of facilities for setting fire to the cafeteria, in turn injuring another boy. She made this decision to deinstitutionalize him as she didn't like the alternative, sending him into more restrictive juvenile detention from which he would probably never be rehabilitated. However, with this deinstitutionalization, she has to take care of him ...

Plot Keywords: oedipus complex, dysfunctional family, single mother, mother son relationship, attempted suicide, caught masturbating, racial slur ...

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