The Bacon family are probably the only family that could’ve made Family Movie, a family movie about a family making a horror movie. Adorably self-referential and oddly wholesome for something so thoroughly violent, the Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick-directed, metatheatrical comedy makes great use of each family member’s talents. In the process, Family Movie cheekily nods to its own nepotism by turning it squarely on its head.
It’s a sweet and innocent film, which is a bit bizarre considering its narrative. And, given its setup, it would be tempting to expect an entirely more labyrinthine journey. But the script by Dan Beers (not a Bacon) can be frustratingly straightforward, and tonally confused. In between nonchalant murders, Beers, Bacon, and Sedgwick aim for grounded heart-to-heart conversations of a kind that don’t exactly feel at home in the movie’s otherwise topsy-turvy world. But being that this is a real family that has worked together for decades, their chemistry elevates the somewhat lackluster writing to deliver a pleasurable, if tame experience.
In Family Movie, Jack Smith (Kevin) is a hack director making hack movies with a potentially sociopathic wife, Elle (Kyra), and lovingly pliant kids. Both the real-life Bacons and the fictional Smiths have been making movies together their whole lives, but the latter are known for their distinctly terrible horror schlock. An early montage reveals Jack to be a relentlessly ambitious filmmaker who keeps returning to the chair despite having no positive reinforcement from the press. Though his feature debut, Going Postal, opened at a C-level film festival, he has otherwise had no such luck getting eyes on his work.
Jack’s newest film is about a Satanic cult which sacrifices people on each blood moon (aptly named Blood Moon) and he’s more or less forced his family together by promising that it is their last rodeo. Everyone gets along well enough, but at what point are they encouraging bad habits? The Smiths are draining money at an unprecedented rate, and only have enough cash for this newest feature because they agreed to let Maya (Liza Koshy), the financier’s daughter, shoot a BTS documentary. Plus, she’s sleeping with Trent (Travis Bacon).
While Trent tries to get his family to care about his music career or passion for Muay Thai, Ulla (Sosie Bacon) gets all the attention. And she might have an out: She’s been cast as the lead in a new television series. Problem is, it’s shooting in Canada, and she has to be there next week, which means she has to tell her parents that she has to abandon the film shoot – and reveal that her manager is none other than Kathy (Andrea Savage), her mom’s old representative.
It certainly would help Ulla if the production moved along a bit faster, but everyone here is an amateur and either underpaid or working for free. All are pulling at least double duty, if not triple. Trent serves as editor, boom operator, and composer; Elle is providing craft services and acting as the villain; Ulla is the lead actress and the production assistant. There are a ton of delays because nothing is rigged quite right; one of the lights just hit Jackie (Jackie Earle Haley), causing his head to bleed.
But most annoying for Jack is that their neighbor (John Carrol Lynch) refuses to pause his yard work for even a moment, the ear-piercing sounds of his saw ruining take after take. Either that, or his dog won’t stop barking because he hasn’t been fed yet. But the problem changes shape when, after he tries to sexually entrap her, Elle kills him with a butcher knife.
She seems to be oddly comfortable with the action and even cozier (and efficient) in getting rid of the body, and what first appears as a momentary snap later reveals itself as something of a side hustle for the overprotective mother. Yet, no one really seems all that bothered by this revelation; instead, the family can only think of how it might delay their respective plans.
Much of the humor in Family Movie doesn’t totally work, because it is neither gruesome nor absurd enough to register in either direction. It’s a placid movie that tries to make a meal out of its extraordinary situations, but everyone is acting pretty casual about the mounting bodies and looming threat of going to jail. Family Movie needed a lot more massaging to work properly, but as it is, it feels stiff, sputtering toward its ending and never finding a groove long enough to kill.
Still, it’s fun enough to watch this foursome try and service their own needs and wants while showing up for each other, and one gets the impression this tension exists for the Bacon family, as well. If all members of the family work – and work a lot – as independent artists with dreams and aspirations for a bigger life, how do you make time for each other? If it’s hard for the Smith family, imagine what it’s like for the Bacon family. Quality family time is important, too. Important enough to kill for, apparently.
Family Movie screened at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
- Release Date
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March 13, 2026
- Runtime
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81 minutes
- Writers
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Dan Beers
- Producers
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Vince Jolivette, Damiano Tucci, Sosie Bacon, John H. Lang, Russell Wayne Groves, Travis Bacon, Benjamin Fuqua, Greg Lauritano, Christian Sosa, Casey Durant, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Rachel Douglas