Instant Family
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 16, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
82
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiNov 14, 2018
Instant Family is a decent, involving, endearing story, with funny performances and heartfelt, entirely earned dramatic crescendoes. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerNov 16, 2018
Instant Family didn’t just exceed my low expectations; it obliterated them. It’s the kind of honest, human comedy that’s so rare from Hollywood these days that when one finally comes along, you sit there in the theater in slack-jawed amazement and wonder: How does a movie like this happen? Read full review
80
IGNNov 14, 2018
Successfully walking the line between sharp comedy and thoughtful dramedy, Instant Family delivers, warming the heart and generating plenty of belly laughs. When it’s funny, as it often is, it’s damn funny. One of the superior comedies of the year, it’s not a classic, but it’s rich, smart and emotionally satisfying and an accomplished step forward for director Sean Anders. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 14, 2018
At its heart (and it’s a big corny heart, for sure), the film’s message is one of unconditional love and embracing family wherever you find it. It’s hard to argue with. Especially when it’s served up with such spiky laughter-through-tears sweetness. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschNov 14, 2018
While the film commits errors of taste and tact, and is generally all over the place from start to finish, those issues come off here as byproducts of a certain generosity — a sense that Anders wants to convey a full range of experience, including the messy stuff in between the usual formulaic notes and beats. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanNov 14, 2018
It redefines family craziness as normal in a way that those who seek it out will gratefully relate to. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleNov 15, 2018
The challenge – the one this film proves incapable of overcoming – is how you marry a broad family comedy with the endless complexity of the adoption process. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubCaroline SiedeNov 14, 2018
Instant Family balances its sitcom tone with some real, unexpected heart. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonNov 19, 2018
The foster-care comedy Instant Family has more heart than laughs, but enough of the former to squeak by. Read full review
63
ObserverRex ReedNov 16, 2018
Add up the ingredients and you get a mostly enjoyable dog-eared formula for escapist entertainment without critical perception. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloNov 16, 2018
A movie with good intentions but is uneven in tone, leaving me with mixed feelings. It felt like the speech was preempting any criticism with sentimentality. The uneasiness continued in the film’s wild swings between tragedy and goofy comedy. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesKatie WalshNov 16, 2018
The pace of Instant Family can be relentless. But with the supporting cast and a whole lot of genuine authenticity, Anders hits that sweet spot of hilarious and heartwarming, where the sweetness and tears are well-deserved, and earned. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Chandler LevackNov 15, 2018
At two hours, Instant Family is shorter than a Judd Apatow joint but far less funny or complex. It’s Sean Anders’s best movie. Read full review
63
Washington PostPat PaduaNov 14, 2018
While the movie doesn’t shy away from confronting the obstacles of foster parenthood, it never fully earns its happy ending. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 14, 2018
In the roller coaster between serious and silly that Instant Family bounces along on, Byrne is the Fast-Pass holder, and she makes this uneven dramedy a hoot, and more importantly, makes it work. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansFeb 21, 2019
The tone is weird, seesawing between broad comedy (Tig Notaro and Octavia Spencer as hardened adoption agency workers) and manipulative melodrama (I hate to admit it, but a standoff between Pete, Ellie and Lizzy moved me to tears). Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillFeb 15, 2019
Instant Family retains the obvious appeal of watching basically nice people attempt a fundamentally decent thing for a few hours. The shamelessly optimistic finale may even leave you with something in your eye, dammit. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerFeb 13, 2019
For all its formula, Instant Family is a winning confection, unafraid to go to unexpected dramatic places and elevated by Byrne’s gift as a comedy foil and Moner’s lively but subtle turn. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamFeb 5, 2019
It’s no Parenthood. It’s tonally messy. But Instant Family’s made with excellent intentions and chunks of it work. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichNov 14, 2018
Never as hackneyed as it is heartfelt, Instant Family takes the stuff of real life and turns it into a touching reminder of what love can do for the people who need it. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghNov 16, 2018
The result is too well-meaning and sincere to truly dislike, but too frictionless and manufactured to do right by the complicated scenario. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 16, 2018
Instant Family has heart and good intentions. It’s a shame the journey is such a bumpy ride as it takes us all over the map. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 15, 2018
Instant Family is a surprisingly foul-mouthed, filled-to-bursting roller coaster of a comedy-melodrama that tosses you in eight different directions before leaving you a teary, conflicted mess. And when it works, it’s genuinely funny and moving. But when it doesn’t, hoo boy, it’s atrocious. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyNov 15, 2018
Instant Family isn’t a hellish movie, although it is very much a Hollywood one. Read full review
50
Film Journal InternationalStephen Whitty Nov 14, 2018
The switch between moods—obvious comedy and sermonizing message—comes often, and clumsily. Read full review
40
Time OutMichael GingoldNov 18, 2018
If Instant Family manages to land more emotional and amusing moments than it deserves to, that’s thanks in large part to two of the performances. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneTim GriersonNov 14, 2018
It’s a shame that Instant Family reduces the complexity, pain and joy of parenthood to a multiplex-palatable family comedy. The real story is probably far more interesting … and hopefully funnier. Read full review
33
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanNov 14, 2018
If you’re going to tackle serious subject matter, maybe don’t run it through tacky fluff that amounts to a fleeting sugar high. Sure, this movie will get all the right oohs and aahs, sighs and sobs — it certainly won over the freebie test audience at my screening, good god — but it won’t linger. Read full review
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