I didn’t think this would be my sort of movie but then the emotional rollercoaster it sent me on clearly defied that.

Instant Family follows a couple who think about fostering children, so they go through the normal steps that any foster parent goes through to find the perfect child, and on a visit to an adoption fair they actually end up adopting three children. One teenager, one child, and one toddler-child.

Thus ensues the usual craziness of having kids. Now personally for me, I have never had a child so I do not understand all the complexities, but this movie made it very easy for me to be able to see it from an outsider‘s perspective and enjoy it.

It starts off with the honeymoon phase where everyone is very happy to finally have a family together and everything seems perfect and then slowly over time things start to get worse and worse until the couple start thinking was this really the right thing for them to do.

And I really liked how funny but how raw this film was. It was obviously exaggerated but the things that this couple went through are probably things that foster parents go through every day. From unruly children to children who have been neglected or abused, and then there’s the whole storyline of birth parents and what if they come back into the picture and what happens then? Because technically these aren’t your children, as much as you love and care for them, their birth parents are still their official parents.

It was very touching to watch this and see the different trials and tribulations that this family went through. From hating each other, to loving each other, to having outside things like their family and friends affecting their relationships, it was all very interesting to see and I think if anyone is thinking of adopting or fostering children maybe this would be a good first step to look into it. To see it in an exaggerated way to really think: if this would happen to us, could we handle it?

Regardless of whether you have kids or want kids or don’t want kids, I think this film is one that many people can enjoy and is a feel good film that has a lot of ups and downs. It has very funny moments, very bitter sweet moments and overall shows you how important being a parent is and being there for your children.

What do you think of Instant Family?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding