Chosen Family

This movie trailer gives the impression of a romcom, but between the mediocre acting, the used up plot, and the fact that there is no rom or com it was just disappointing. The basic storyline is downtrodden girl who is emotionally abused by her family, and who is a yes girl. She meets a "the man of her dreams" but he has a daughter that he caters to, unrealistically so, I really wish the script writer had stuck with just one storyline and not made this characters life so tragic. She remains upbeat the whole time and you root for her to just loose it on the family, and cut them out of her life. The end also just kind of leaves you hanging. In the end it was a waste of time and money.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's feasible for a filmmaker to have the best intentions with a project, and for whatever reason, the end result just not be satisfying. This appears to be the case with this latest from Heather Graham, who wrote, directs, and stars in a film meant to inspire us to take control of our own life and stop blaming others for the obstacles or our own poor decisions.

Ms. Graham (BOOGIE NIGHTS, 1997) stars as Ann, a self-described people-pleaser who teaches yoga at a studio she doesn't own in a coastal Rhode Island community that looks to be somewhat affluent. Somehow, her sparsely attended yoga classes must pay well, as Ann lives in a stunning home overlooking the water. Her first mission is to pick up her sister Clio (Julia Stiles, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, 1999) from drug rehab and drop her at their parents' house. Dad (Michael Gross) is a religious zealot constantly accusing Ann of "living in sin", while Mom (Julie Halston) is filled with regret that she never pursued the singing career she desired. This is Ann's family, so given the film's title, you can likely guess where this is headed.

In contrast to her chaotic family, Ann has a group of very close friends who support her. Max (Thomas Lennon, "Reno 911") is opening a new waterfront restaurant with the help of his wife Francis (Odessa Rae) and their friend Roz (Andrea Savage, STEP BROTHERS, 2008). Ann's poor/comical track record with boyfriends is a constant point of discussion, and Max introduces her to his contractor, Steve (John Brotherton, FURIOUS 7, 2015). Steve is a nice man and the two hit it off.

Things change quickly when Steve agrees to introduce Ann to his daughter Lilly (Ella Grace Helton), who hasn't handled her parents' divorce very well. That's an understatement. In fact, Lilly displays the psychotic behavior of someone who has been a psychopath-in-training for years. She's manipulative and vindictive, and has no intention of letting Ann come between her and good ol' dad.

I'd like to say this piece of the story is overdone to the extreme, but again, that would be an understatement ... one capped off with a totally inappropriate hip-hop dance contest between Ann and Steve's child, Lilly. This happens around the time that Ann posts an all-too-honest vlog while wearing a bikini and dissing her family. Somehow, all of this is supposed to be played as comedy, but mostly it's kind of pathetic seeing grown adults act the way they do here. At least Lilly's obnoxious behavior can be explained as a young kid going through a stressful destruction of the only life she's known.

Ann's vlog brings her notoriety as an influencer, yet she continues to kowtow to Steve, her parents, and her sister. Things come to a head when Ann gets her big yoga break on stage at an exposition. Chaos ensues on stage and it (finally) awakens something in Ann.

We get a quick dose of a horrific backstory involving Ann and Clio as kids, but it's never explored, and Ms. Graham handles most of Ann's scenes with a mixture of bug eyes and squinting in disbelief. The end result may not be what we've come to expect from movies, but it's the sensible finale that gives meaning to the film's title. There is very little real humor in this comedy, and though just about any of the story lines could have been more fully developed, we are instead left with a mishmash of Ann's own making ... which turns out to be the moral of the story.

Available for digital download beginning April 21, 2025.

I love Julia Stiles in most of her movies but this was not her best role. This whole movie was not impressive. The actors did not contribute much to a good story line and the ending was so disappointing. I'm just glad I didn't watch this in theatre and pay more than I did. They did not put much effort into building the love story which is what the movie seemed to be about. The beginning was a lot of build up of the main character's love life and how disastrous it has been, which would make you think the ending would end with a love story that ended in a happy ending but instead it ends Completely opposite and random. It was overall disappointing and wouldn't recommend.

I did not get through the whole movie. I loved the premise, but the execution was bad. It is not okay to call a little girl a b***ch word and compete with her to get her father's attention. It was clear that the little girl was going through a separation trauma and needed help, she did not need a grown woman-baby taunting her and throwing tantrums.

Initially, I was mesmerized by the main character and could relate to the struggle of having to put up with unreasonable relatives. However, as the movie progressed, it just turned into something completely weird where a grown woman was behaving like a five year old.

This movie was cringe-worthy, cheesy, sappy, and corny. I understand that the creators had good intentions, and I managed to finish it, so I want to rate it at least two stars. They worked hard on this film, but it wasn't good. The acting and directing left a lot to be desired.

Heather Graham and Julia Stiles look amazing, but both are in their 50s, and I think they are trying to act like they're in their 30s. Their outfits were a bit revealing throughout the movie, which felt excessive. The film didn't seem very realistic or effectively portray real life. While Heather Graham has a beautiful body, part of me thinks she took this role mainly to showcase it and not much of her acting skills. And how does a yoga instructor afford a beautiful house by the water? I don't understand how anyone can relate to this movie.