HBO’s Succession is kicking up a storm. When it’s not raking in the Emmys then it’s fighting off the impatient fans desperate for a third season. Unfortunately, due to the current state of the world, season 3 may be a long way off. Whilst the main arch of the story does concern the lives and work of a multibillion-dollar family media empire, the show itself happily jumps between very different tones, moods, and genres. Show creator, Jesse Armstrong, got his start writing on British sitcoms like Peep Show and The Thick of It, and that particular type of cringe humor runs through every episode.
However, it also feels like a Shakespearean drama. The rhetoric, intrigue, back-stabbing is all like a modern-day retelling of King Lear. Partly why the show is so capable of doing this is the family setting; one of the best genres for drama. Not least because, even if they have vastly different lifestyles from the characters, everyone can relate to a certain position within a family. Luckily, there are plenty of films out there that tackle family dynamics to satisfy the masses while they endure the wait.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Wes Anderson has made plenty of films that tackle family dynamics but never quite on the scale of The Royal Tenenbaums. Gene Hackman plays the head of a dysfunctional family (made up of an ensemble of actors to rival Succession’s stellar cast) trying, partly through charm and partly through deceit, to reunite them all once again.
Just as the Roy family think of themselves as participants in an exclusive game, the Tenenbaums act as though they live in a secluded, larger-than-life dollhouse. However it doesn’t take long for the fantasy to slip and reality begins to seep in, delivering just a dramatic twist for every laugh.
Festen (1998)
A Danish black-comedy that is almost too excruciating to watch, Festen is a dark masterpiece of cringe. An affluent family gathers, seemingly to celebrate the patriarch’s 60th birthday. However, it doesn’t take long to see that this family is not as close as they claim to be.
Secrets and lies are kept buried and hidden creating an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere, which reaches a peak when the son gives a toast that, far from celebrating his father, accuses him of some horrific acts. Filmed in a low-key way, with an excellent script, it’s unclear if the film is trying to go for laughs or outrage.
The Lion In Winter (1968)
As Shakespearean as Succession is, its dialogue and pace have far more in common with this Academy Award-winning historical drama. Set at Christmas, during the reign of King Henry II, the film follows the King as he and his sons are reunited with his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Featuring two blistering performances from Katherine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole (and a young Anthony Hopkins) it is as entertaining now as it ever was. The family trade barbs and insults while they secretly plot, but still manage to reveal that they love each other as much as they despise each other.
A Serious Man (2009)
The Roys are such a tantalizing family because the way they behave, the state of their morals, means they surely deserve to fail, but they keep winning. Larry Gopnik is a family man with the opposite problem; no matter how good he tries to be his life keeps falling apart.
In quick succession Larry is blackmailed, his wife leaves him, his son is stealing money, his brother is arrested for gambling, his job is threatened and his wife’s lover wants him to move out. Both funny and philosophical this Coen brothers’ film is about bad things happening to good people and, just like with the Roys, there seems to be no explanation why.
Dogtooth (2009)
Certainly far more surreal than Succession, but Dogtooth oddly hits much of the same tones as the show does. An early film from Yorgos Lanthimos, it explores a family who lives inside a compound and keeps their children ignorant of the outside world.
Living in a reality constructed entirely by their parents the son and daughter must follow strict rules and rely on their own, limited, imagination for entertainment. A shocking deconstruction of the family that’s unafraid to get its audience uncomfortable, it’s a startling depiction of the power parents can have over their children.
Tokyo Story (1953)
A far quieter and gentler film than the others on the list, and featuring a family dynamic that’s almost the inverse of the Roys. However, Tokyo Story is a subtly powerful film that is often considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Set in post-war Tokyo it follows an aging couple as they travel to visit their grown children and grandchildren, who are often too busy to see them. A meditation on the passage of time and how older generations struggle to keep up with modern-day life. It concerns a very different type of family dynamic but it is still as powerful as anything in Succession.
Death at a Funeral (2007)
Death at a Funeral admittedly is more comedy than drama but it still deserves a place on this list. Not least because it stars Succession‘s own Matthew Macfadyen showcasing his considerable comic talent. A large family gathers for the funeral of their father.
While each member puts on a show of grieving nearly everyone has other designs, primarily concerning what they’re owed in his will. With accidental drug-taking, surprise guests, possible murder, and one man trying to keep it all together, this comedy makes for a very good palette cleanser.
The Farewell (2019)
When Billi (Awkwafina) learns that her beloved grandmother has terminal cancer she, and her family, travel to China to be with her. However, the family, much to Billi’s dismay, choose not to tell her she has cancer. Believing that the fear of cancer will kill her much faster than the disease.
Based on director Lulu Wang’s own experience, the movie is another excellent exploration of a family entering morally murky territory. It is poignant and often tense in its depiction of a family struggling to fit between two very different cultures, but ultimately heartwarming.
You Can’t Take It With You (1938)
An old Hollywood classic that is still brilliant over 80 years after its release. Another huge ensemble comedy-drama, it stars James Stewart as the son of a snobbish upper-class family who falls in love with a woman from a highly eccentric family.
Initially embarrassed and confused by the attitudes of the family, the soon-to-be son-in-law, is welcomed with open arms and learns a whole new way of life. Perhaps a little more innocent than the average episode of Succession, but the films still challenges traditional propriety against the values of a chaotic, but ultimately more human family.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Those who miss Brian Cox’s domineering performance as Logan Roy need look no further than Michael Gambon as English gangster Albert Spica. A belligerent, violent man Spica nightly drags his wife (Helen Mirren) and their family of gangsters to an elite restaurant where they dine lavishly.
A very stylized but stylish film, it feels more like a play both in terms of the caliber of performances and in its theatrical storytelling. Much like the ‘Hunting’ episode of Succession, but with the surrealism turned up to eleven. A brutal and engaging look at sex, death, money, and power.
