Film

My Family and Other Animals

A sunlit escape: an eccentric English family abandons rainy 1930s England for Corfu, where young Gerald falls in love with the island's wildlife while his chaotic relatives stumble through Mediterranean life. Gentle, funny, gorgeously shot—a celebration of curiosity, family mess, and the creatures that make us feel at home.

TMDb rating3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy gentle, episodic family comedy where the humour comes from odd characters and a child's wide-eyed curiosity about the natural world rather than from plot twists.

Skip it if you want brisk storytelling with a clear through-line, since this drifts from one small adventure to the next and can feel loosely strung together over its ninety minutes.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes of unhurried, sunlit wandering: it takes its time, rewards a relaxed attention, and rarely raises its voice even when the household is in uproar.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society2018

Warm, intelligent period drama about outsiders finding belonging through books and community. Features superb ensemble chemistry, beautiful cinematography, and genuine emotion beneath the whimsy.

But It's earnest in ways that can feel slight if you're not in the mood for comfort-watch storytelling. Some find the pacing deliberately, almost stubbornly gentle.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society poster

Paddington 22017

Pure-hearted family adventure with wit for adults, stunning design, and a story about acceptance that never talks down to you. Paul King's direction is immaculate; it moves like a dream.

But If you find talking animals intrinsically silly, this won't change your mind. Also runs ninety minutes and could feel slight if you expect plot-heaviness.

Paddington 2 poster

Birdsong2012

Gorgeous BBC adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' novel with gorgeous Edwardian sequences and raw emotional depth. Eddie Redmayne is revelatory, and the cinematography alone justifies your time.

But Tonal shifts from romance to WWI trench horror are abrupt and genuinely unsettling. Not a comfort watch despite its beauty.

Birdsong poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from My Family and Other Animals

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

My Friend Walter1992

Both are about a young person's transformative relationship with their surroundings—one literal and animal, one temporal and spectral. Both find profundity in curiosity and connection across difference.

A boy in 1990s Glasgow befriends the ghost of Sir Walter Scott. Sounds whimsical; it's actually profound about solitude, imagination, and what we inherit from the past. Moving, strange, unforgettable.

But The fantasy premise might feel hokey; the emotional core requires you to buy into genuine loneliness before the magic works. Low production values by modern standards.

My Friend Walter poster
More like this (6)

Call the Midwife2012

British ensemble period drama that balances whimsy with genuine hardship, humor with real loss. Beautifully acted, genuinely moving, and utterly rewatchable.

But Early seasons slip into saccharine territory. Later seasons tackle heavy subjects that can feel tacked-on if you came for nostalgia.

Call the Midwife poster

Atonement2007

Visually stunning period drama with phenomenal performances and a narrative structure that rewires how you think about the film on second viewing. Joe Wright at his best.

But It's deliberately emotionally devastating in ways that undercut the beauty. Long, methodical, and asks patience without promising comfort.

Atonement poster

Tipping the Velvet2002

Sumptuous adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel with rich performances, gorgeous production design, and a coming-of-age story that feels genuinely lived-in and human.

But Lengthy and digressive by design. Narrative takes unexpected turns that some find frustrating; it's more about texture than plot.

Tipping the Velvet poster

The Secret Garden2020

Lush, emotionally intelligent reimagining with Marc Munden's direction bringing genuine magic to the restoration of damaged children and gardens. Unfussy beauty.

But Deviates considerably from the novel in ways Burnett devotees may resist. Pacing is deliberate and won't appeal to those wanting adventure.

The Secret Garden poster

Upstairs Downstairs2010

Ensemble period drama about a London townhouse and its servants in the 1930s. Stellar cast, intricate writing, and real stakes beneath the drawing-room elegance.

But Only two seasons before cancellation means the narrative feels incomplete. Some storylines disappear unresolved, which is genuinely frustrating.

Upstairs Downstairs poster

Microcosmos1996

Gerald's obsession with the small lives around him given visual form. Both celebrate wonder at creatures invisible to casual attention—but this film makes you feel *small* alongside them.

A 75-minute wordless documentary about insects in a meadow, shot with macro lenses and such artistry it becomes a meditation on life itself. Utterly hypnotic; sounds boring and is absolutely not.

But No plot, no narration, no dialogue. If you need narrative or human faces to stay engaged, this will feel like staring at nature footage, which it partly is.

Microcosmos poster

People

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Recommended by

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, Alone in the Wilderness, My Side of the Mountain, Born Free, The Bélier Family, The Swiss Family Robinson