Review: Family (2026)

BY DAVEY

Family, the feature debut from writer and director Benjamin Finkel, arrived in limited theaters and on digital rental this week through Vertical after premiering at SXSW back in 2024. I’d been curious about it for a while, and I came away mostly liking it, even if it didn’t fully win me over.

The film takes place in the summer of 2002, when ten-year-old Johanna (Cameron Dawson Gray) moves with her parents, Naomi and Harry (Ruth Wilson and Ben Chaplin), into her mom’s childhood home outside Philadelphia. Her dad is seriously ill, so Johanna hangs a little birdhouse she believes will bring a good spirit to protect him. Instead, her dad gets worse, strange visions start creeping in, the family dog disappears, and Johanna becomes convinced something dark has gotten into the house.

Finkel started writing this story at 14 after losing his own father to cancer, and that personal history comes through in how well the film captures the confusion of being a kid watching a parent get sick. I also loved the birdhouse as a kind of homemade protection charm, and the way the movie slowly turns that sweet idea into something unsettling.

Ruth Wilson is the standout as a mother stretched past her limit, and she had me questioning every look she gave her daughter. Ben Chaplin is warm and heartbreaking as Harry, and Gray does solid work carrying most of the film. The sound design adds a lot, with creaks and whispers that kept me on edge even in the quieter moments.

This is more of a slow-burn grief drama than a scare-heavy horror movie, and I would have liked a bit more momentum in the middle along with a few more of the eerie moments the trailer promises. Still, it’s a moody, well-acted debut, and if you enjoyed films like Relic or Hereditary and you’re in the mood for something sad and atmospheric, it’s worth a rental this weekend.