With the spooky season just around the corner, it’s the right call to make a list of Halloween-y movies that are well-divided among genres, including horror, fantasy, comedy, thriller, and crime, and fit for every audience. If this weekend is something you plan to host a cosy and fun-filled family movie night with hopes of much laughter and nostalgia, Netflix’s new French family adventure, titled ‘Family Pack’ is a good option.
Premiered on Netflix on October 23, 2024, ‘Family Pack’ is based on the French board game ‘The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow’. Helmed by François Uzan and written by Hervé Marly and Philippe des Pallières, this adventure drama tried to cover all fonts needed in a Jumanji-style mystery game and time travel setup. Aimed at bringing paranoia amongst players, which in this case was a chaotic family of 6, teacher dad Jérôme (Franck Dubosc), his lawyer wife Marie (Suzanne Clément), influencer daughter Clara (Lisa Do Couto Texeira), stepson with a weird haircut Théo (Raphael Romand), youngest daughter Louise (Alizée Caugnies), and grandfather with dementia Gilbert (Jean Reno), believe us, this drama is more laughs than scares. Watch the trailer, here.
‘Family Pack’ begins in a chaotic setup. The family is gathered at Grandpa Gilbert’s house with Dad Jérôme trying to introduce the kids to a mysterious board game for a cosy game night, however, his efforts soon turn futile due to his father’s feebleness and the family’s new-age problems. As the family ignores the game (pun intended), the wolf game abruptly transports them to the medieval era, just to be treated as foreigners or killed by werewolves.
Despite Gilbert’s house being transformed into a small timber cottage just like the Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, the family finds it hard to believe that they have really time travelled back to 1497 until they witness a real execution. Then, they run for their lives, but the time travelling also does some good–restoring Gilbert’s mind and gifting each family member a unique power related to their role in the board game. Using their powers like super-strength, mind-reading, invisibility, and more they must identify and kill werewolves to win the game and return to the future.
The storyline of ‘Family Pack’ is not unique, but what sets it apart, is its delightful portrayal of family bonding and the absurdities of the medieval ages. What’s particularly entertaining to watch is lawyer-mother Marie trying to advocate for literally the whole village, and ‘Emily In Paris’ star Bruno Gouery dealing with his liking for men (particularly Jérôme, ahem) while being a famous painter.
We think that ‘Family Pack’ is a bubbly and well-packaged watch with the mature, heartwarming, and deep emotions of a family lurking beneath the fun and adventure-filled board game fantasy.
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