Film

What a Wonderful Family!

Name: What a Wonderful Family!
Genre: Comedy, Family
Released: 2016
Cast: Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Masahiko Nishimura, Yui Natsukawa, Hayashiya Shōzō IX

A Japanese family comedy about a wife who announces her divorce wish after 50 years of marriage, upending her husband and their adult children's lives. It's warm, funny, and genuinely moving—a film that finds humour in family mess without mocking anyone's pain. For anyone who loves ensemble pieces that balance comedy with real affection.

TMDb rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy warm, observational comedy about ordinary households, where old resentments and small irritations surface and the laughs come from character rather than gags.

Skip it if you want fast plotting or sharp, cynical jokes; this is gentle, talky and sentimental, with its humour resting on the ordinary business of a household.

What it asks of you: At 108 minutes, its pace is unhurried and its shape loose, so patience with domestic detail pays off more than attention to any single plot thread.

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

If you liked this

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But It moves at a pace that feels glacial if you're expecting plot. Long scenes of people sitting. Subtitles. It's hypnotic rather than propulsive, and that's not everyone's rhythm.

Paddington 22017

A family film that genuinely loves its ensemble cast and takes their emotional lives seriously. Marred relationships repair, characters grow, and there's real stakes beneath the whimsy. Proves that warmth and humour aren't patronizing—they're the whole point.

But If you're allergic to sentimentality or find talking animals exhausting, the earnestness will feel cloying. It's unapologetically wholesome.

Minari2021

An immigrant family pursues a dream and slowly fractures under pressure. Like Wonderful Family, it finds comedy in daily friction while never losing sight of genuine love and sacrifice. The grandmother is a revelation—funny, heartbreaking, totally human.

But It's quieter and more melancholic than funny. The comedy emerges from character, not plot. If you want laughs delivered to you, you'll have to lean in.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from What a Wonderful Family!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

So Long, My Son2019

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Two couples' parallel lives across decades of Chinese history. The director, Wang Xiaoshuai, uses a fractured temporal structure to show how trauma compounds in families over time. Devastating but also wryly funny about the ways people adapt, rationalize, forgive. Far more formally ambitious than Wonderful Family, but animated by the same belief that family bonds outlast everything.

But The fractured timeline is demanding—it requires active watching to assemble the chronology. And the subject matter (the one-child policy, its human cost) is heavy. Not a light watch.

The Farewell2019

A family gathering forces hard truths into the open. Balances big emotional weight with unexpected humour, cultural specificity with universal family dynamics. Lulu Wang finds comedy in contradiction—people can be infuriating and beloved simultaneously.

But The tonal shifts might feel tonal rather than earned, depending on your mood. And the film requires you to sit with ambiguity about whether certain choices were right.

About Schmidt2002

Jack Nicholson's retirement spirals when he realizes his marriage was hollow and his life choices suspect. It's comedy wrung from genuine unease and disappointment. Pairs well with Wonderful Family because both ask: how do you rebuild when everything you believed in cracks?

But Schmidt is difficult to like and the film doesn't soften him. It's cynical in ways that can feel bitter rather than cathartic.

Ikiru1952

A dying man searches for meaning and discovers it in connection with others. Kurosawa's masterpiece, searingly human. No film captures both loneliness and grace better. The final scene will stay with you for years.

But It's devastating—not in a fun way. Watching someone confront mortality and regret requires emotional stamina. Not a comfort watch.

Little Miss Sunshine2006

A dysfunctional family road trip where every member is broken in different ways. Comedy comes from collision and misunderstanding, but the film never stops believing in them. It's messy and affectionate in equal measure.

But Some people find the quirk affected, the family too obviously constructed to showcase dysfunction. If you hate precious indie comedies, this will feel designed to charm you.

Sideways2004

Two middle-aged men confront their failures and disappointments on a wine country trip. It's funny, sad, and honest about how people disappoint each other and themselves. The friendship feels lived-in, complicated, real.

But Miles is a snob and both men are self-absorbed in ways that can feel wearing. If you're not in the mood for characters who annoy themselves, the comedy won't land.