The Kids Are All Right

"Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible."

2010 1h 46m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🔥

93%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 1,639🍅93%Rotten Tomatoes●86Metacritic★7IMDB · 137,167

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two women, Nic and Jules, brought a son and daughter into the world through artificial insemination. When one of their children reaches age, both kids go behind their mothers' backs to meet with the donor. Life becomes so much more interesting when the father, two mothers and children start to become attached to each other.

“Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible.”

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Cast

Julianne Moore
Jules
Annette Bening
Nic
Mark Ruffalo
Paul
Mia Wasikowska
Joni
Josh Hutcherson
Laser
Yaya DaCosta
Tanya
Kunal Sharma
Jai
Eddie Hassell
Clay

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Writers: Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 9.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, shot by Igor Jadue-Lillo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jeffrey M. Werner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Julianne Moore and Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lisa Cholodenko directs. Igor Jadue-Lillo behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. Jeffrey M. Werner cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, France. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 9.9× over at the box office.
3Released 16 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, France.
5Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, shot by Igor Jadue-Lillo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jeffrey M. Werner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Julianne Moore and Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible.".
10IMDB entry: tt0842926 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "lesbian relationship", "dinner", "motorcycle", "argument".

The technical file

Cinematography: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Original score: Carter Burwell
Editing: Jeffrey M. Werner
Production design: Julie Berghoff
Costume design: Mary Claire Hannan
Makeup / hair: Cydney Cornell
Stunt coordinator: Mark Norby
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Budget: $3,500,000
Box office: $34,705,850
Return: 992% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 86/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 137,167 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 4 Oscars. 29 wins & 133 nominations total

Also by

Lisa Cholodenko

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2022-07-15
★ 5/10
A “gay friendly” film that manages to be minimally neutral to also please those who are out of political and ideological struggles. The troubled causes have never been so popular as they are today: from abortion to euthanasia, from the historical question between colonizing and colonized countries to the return of looted artworks by European museums, passing through the causes of the Gay Movement, whose acronym grows every year, to embrace any new definition invented for each way of feeling and living sexuality, reflecting a need for affirmation that is felt more strongly than the convenience of presenting a certain union in the ranks. This “gay friendly” film fits perfectly into a growing list of cinema works dedicated to scrutinizing the dynamics of these new families. The advantage of this film is that it is not overly militant. The script introduces us to two mature women, who live in a stable lesbian relationship and who decided to get pregnant, by artificial insemination (obviously the more traditional method was discarded for obvious reasons), the semen donor was the same and the children who were born are, therefore, half-siblings on the part of the father (whom they do not know). It is precisely the search for her biological father and the creation of a closer relationship with him that takes the plot forward, with the introduction of this friendly and uncomplicated man totally destabilizing the life of that house. I liked the movie in general. At the same time that it tries to deny that idea, much replicated, that two lesbians would instill their own sexual orientation in their children, the film seeks to create a question around the inviolability of the anonymity of the donors of seminal material… I cannot speak for everyone, but I would never donate semen if I suspected that, years later, someone might have knocked on my door and said he was my son. Anonymity is something that should be inviolable and sacred here, regardless of the will of those involved. It was the point in the script that bothered me the most, but there were a few more. For me, the strongest point of the film ends up being the cast and its very good performance, strongly supported by a duo of veterans: Julianne Moore and Annette Bening. Both are amazing in their characters, and they establish an excellent working dynamic and good chemistry. Mia Wasilowska and Josh Hutcherson, both still quite young, are a nice and refreshing addition to the cast, both of whom seem to be really enjoying what they're doing. Besides, we all know them nowadays, because they are two young stars. Although it's not that interesting, I have to admit that I liked Mark Ruffalo's work. I think his character was poorly thought out, and poorly written, but the actor manages himself very well and knows how to get around the obstacles that appear. It's not a technically remarkable film, it's notable that it didn't have a superb budget, and that it was a job done thanks, in part, to the extreme dedication of everyone involved. It doesn't have amazing cinematography and editing, but what it's done works well and is effective. The film has a pleasant, light pace, and a humorous and uncomplicated atmosphere.

Production companies