20 Best Movies About Complicated Father-Child Relationships

Berfin Ceren Meray
Onedio Member
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Father-child relationships can be complex and challenging, and it's a common experience to encounter difficulties with our fathers at some point in our lives. However, there are many films that explore this dynamic and can provide comfort and insight into these relationships. In this content, we've curated a list of movies that center on father-child relationships, offering a range of perspectives and emotions that may resonate with your own experiences. We hope these films provide solace and a sense of connection, and we wish you a rewarding viewing experience.

1. About a Boy (2002)

Londoner Will is a handsome, rich, irresponsible man. Will, a cynical, immature young man, is taught by a young boy how to behave like an adult.

Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

Starring: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette

2. Ad Astra (2019)

Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission in a cruel solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his expedition that threatens the universe 30 years later.

Director: James Gray

Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga

3. The Beach Bum (2019)

The film begins with Moondog arriving late for his daughter Heather's wedding, and shortly after that, the two is forced to face the death of Heather's mother. This film deals with the father-daughter relationship in a touching way.

Director: Harmony Korine

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher

4. Beautiful Boy (2018)

Based on the bestselling memoirs of father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy tells about the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival and recovery in a family that struggled with addiction for many years.

Directed by: Felix van Groeningen

Starring: Steve Carell, Maura Tierney, Timothee Chalamet

5. Beginners (2010)

A young man is shaken by two news from his elderly father: his father has contracted terminal cancer, and strangest of all, his father has a young male lover.

Director: Mike Mills

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent

6. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

A sequel to the Borat film, this production focuses on the adventures of Borat, who is now a well-known journalist. Borat returns to America from Kazakhstan and this time gives more information about American culture, the COVID-19 pandemic and political elections.

Directed by: Jason Woliner

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Tom Hanks

7. Boy Erased (2018)

Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor, constantly clashes with his family. That's why a 19-year-old young man is faced with an ultimatum. Either he will participate in a gay conversion therapy program or he will go into exile, abandoned by his family, friends and beliefs.

Directed by: Joel Edgerton

Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton

8. Boyhood (2014)

This film, which spans 12 years, is about the period spent by a young man named Mason from childhood to college. Starring the lead actor Ellar Coltrane from the age of 8, this film sees the audience witness the actor's growth.

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke

9. Brad's Status (2017)

The film tells the story of Brad, who is in a midlife crisis and feels that despite all his achievements, there is a lack in his life. In the film, we watch Brad touring universities with his son, while at the same time watching Brad's ambivalence.

Directed by: Mike White

Starring: Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer

10. Captain Fantastic (2016)

In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father who is dedicated to raising his six children with strict physical and mental education is forced to leave his comfort and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.

Directed by: Matt Ross

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler

11. Daddy Longlegs (2009)

34-year-old irresponsible Lenny, who leads a wandering life, is a father of two children. When he is with children, he forgets his own age and that he is their father. With the entry of his children into his life, Lenny decays between his ex-wife, new lover and strange friends.

Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie

Starring: Ronald Bronstein, Alex Greenblatt, Sage Ranaldo

12. Eighth Grade (2018)

An introverted teenage girl tries to survive the last week of her eighth grade school, which ends in disaster before she leaves to start high school. Her father wants to help him, but he is a rather boring man.

Directed by: Bo Burnham

Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson

13. The Father (2020)

A man refuses all help from his daughter as he gets older. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind, and even his own reality.

Directed by: Florian Zeller

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss

14. Fences (2016)

A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s on the one hand, while trying to face the events in his life and struggle with racism on the other.

Directed by: Denzel Washington

Starring: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson

15. Interstellar (2014)

The film is about a team of explorers going through a wormhole in space to ensure the survival of humanity. However, while astronaut Joseph remains the same age in space, his daughter Murph on Earth is getting older and believes that her father has abandoned her.

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

16. The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Nic and Jules are a lesbian couple with 2 children who were born through artificial insemination. Children who have reached adolescence now want to meet their fathers. The children who are tracking down their father find him and now they need to introduce him to their mothers.

Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko

Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo

17. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

After his wife leaves him, a business-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn parenting skills that he has long neglected. However, a heated custody battle occurs for the couple's young son, which deepens the wounds left by the separation.

Directed by: Robert Benton

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander

18. Laggies (2014)

Megan, in the throes of a quarter-age crisis, panics when her boyfriend proposes marriage. The 16-year-old uses the opportunity to escape for a week by hiding in the house of her new friend Annika and her world-weary single father.

Directed by: Lynn Shelton

Starring: Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell

19. Leave No Trace (2018)

The film is about a father and daughter moving away from city life and settling in a forest inside the city. A mistake made by father and daughter leads to their discovery by the authorities, and their lives change.

Directed by: Debra Granik

Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Foster, Jeffery Rifflard

20. The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

A broken family comes together in New York for an event celebrating their father's artistic work. The film deals with the long-decaying relationship between the children of Harold, played by Dustin Hoffman, from various wives.

Directed by: Noah Baumbach

Starring: Adam Sandler, Grace Van Patten, Dustin Hoffman