''Surviving Family'' is a 2012 American drama about the effects of mental illness and alcoholism on the fictional Malone family. It was directed by Laura Thies and written by Mara Lesemann. The film stars

Billy Magnussen William Gregory Magnussen (born April 20, 1985) is an American actor. He has been featured in the films ''Into the Woods'' (2014), ''Birth of the Dragon'' (2016), '' Game Night'' (2018), and '' Aladdin'' (2019), and has had supporting television ...

, Sarah Wilson, Tara Westwood,

Bill Sage William Sage III (born April 3, 1962) is an American actor and alumnus of State University of New York at Purchase. He is known for his collaborations with director Hal Hartley. Sage has appeared in more than 80 movies, most notable ''American Ps ...

, Johnny Hopkins,

J. D. Williams J.D. Williams (born May 22, 1978) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the HBO television programs '' Oz'' as Kenny Wangler, ''The Wire'' as Bodie Broadus and ''Pootie Tang'' as Froggy, ''Surviving Family'' (2012) as Bobby, ''T ...

Vincent Pastore Vincent Pastore (; born July 14, 1946) is an American actor. Often cast as a mafioso, he is best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Early life Pastore was born to an Italian-America ...

Phyllis Somerville Phyllis Jeanne Somerville (December 12, 1943 – July 16, 2020) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Little Children'' (2006), '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008), ''Surviving Famil ...

, and

Katherine C. Hughes Katherine C. Hughes is an American actress and singer. She has guest starred in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ''Law & Order: SVU'', CBS's Blue Bloods (TV series), ''Blue Bloods'', Men, Women & Children (film), ''Men, Women & Children'' ...

. ''Surviving Family'' premiered at the 2012

Woods Hole Film Festival The Woods Hole Film Festival was founded in 1991 by Judith Laster and Kate Davis. Since its foundation, the festival has grown from a one-day invitational event to an eight-day event with films submitted from around the world. The Festival is hel ...

, where it was the Runner Up for the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature. It was released on iTunes on August 15, 2014.

Plot

''Surviving Family'' counterpoints romance and comedy as it examines the dramatic role of alcoholism, mental illness, and suicide in the lives of the fictional Malone family. Terry Malone shows up unannounced on her father's doorstep - with her fiancé and a plan to get married in five days. She learns that she's not the only one in the family with secrets. As Terry struggles to rebuild her relationship with her older sister Jean, she learns that her young niece Lily has been diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. With the help of her Aunt Mary, Terry must come to terms with the truth behind her mother's suicide and her father's alcoholism.

Cast

as Alex D'Amico * Sarah Wilson as Terry Malone * Tara Westwood as Jean Malone Fulton *

as Jerry Fulton * Johnny Hopkins as Hank Malone *

as Bobby *

as Mary Giaccone *

as Mayor Avenoso *

as Lily Fulton

Production

Director Laura Thies had previously collaborated with producers Mara Lesemann and Carlo Fiorletta on several short movies, and came on board early in the pre-production process. The movie was shot over 20 days in July and August 2011 on a Red One camera. Shooting locations were in New Jersey (

Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) fr ...

and

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Barry Salmon wrote the score. The soundtrack includes

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's Prelude to Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, performed by Canadian cellist

Stéphane Tétreault Stéphane Tétreault (born 10 April 1993) is a Canadian cellist. He first made international headlines as the recipient of Bernard Greenhouse's cello, the 1707 "Countess of Stainlein Ex- Paganini" Stradivarius, generously loaned to him by Mrs. Ja ...

. Thies found the young violinist on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Release

''Surviving Family'' premiered at the 22nd annual

on Cape Cod, MA on August 5, 2012. It was the Runner Up for the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Festival. It went on to screen at 18 other festivals in the US and Canada, winning 20 awards.

Home media

''Surviving Family'' was released on iTunes on August 15, 2014. Amazon Prime was added in December of that year, Vimeo on Demand was added in March 2019, and TubiTV was added in March 2020. Hoopla, a free streaming service through public libraries in the US and Canada, added the film to its platform in November 2020.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surviving Family 2012 films 2012 independent films Films shot in New York City 2012 romantic drama films Films about dysfunctional families Films about bipolar disorder American romantic drama films Films about sisters Films shot in New Jersey Films about alcoholism Films about adultery Films shot in Pennsylvania Films about suicide 2010s English-language films 2010s American films