Instant Family Review – Fun Famjam Flick

Stuck in a rut, couple Pete and Ellie Wagner debate the pros and cons of having kids and manage to come to an agreement to adopt a child. When they finally visit a foster care center, the social workers convince them into signing up for not just one kid, but three siblings!

Directed by Sean Anders, who has co-written the 2018 film ‘Instant Family’ with John Morris, the family-comedy stars Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as Pete and Ellie Wagner. Breezily paced and hilariously executed, ‘Instant Family’ is just the kind of film you can watch with the whole family and learn an important lesson – raising adopted children can be as fulfilling an experience as raising biological kids. Some family members we are born with, others we can choose.

Pete and Ellie are lost, frustrated and almost driven to madness as they try to make their three foster kids Lizzy (Isabela Merced), Juan (Gustavo Escobar) and Lita (Juliana Gamiz) feel at home. The couple desperately want the children to feel like they could be their parents, but having moved from one home to the other in the past, it’s hard for the siblings to take the Wagners seriously. The story wittily captures how scary and exhausting parenting can be.

Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne make a fun onscreen couple and bring a lot of energy to the film. The kids are great too, especially Isabela Merced as Lizzy, the oldest sibling in her ‘teen rebellion’ phase. Her character is very protective of the younger kids Juan and Lita, so getting her on their side is Ellie’s biggest challenge. Margo Martindale has a adorable cameo as Grandma Sandy, who is completely warm and sweet to the kids. The climax was unexpectedly heartwarming and will have movie criers crying.

It’s a 8/10 from me.