Instant Family opens the weekend before Thanksgiving, in time for families to see it together. Based on co-writer and director Sean Anders’ experience adopting foster children, the comedy is a tribute to the laughs and hardships of the system. Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) decide to adopt instead of having kids. In real
Rose Byrne has played mothers in comedies and horror films, from Neighbors and Adult Beginners to the Insidious films. In Instant Family, she plays a foster mom jumping in the deep end with three kids. Ellie (Byrne) and Pete (Mark Wahlberg) decide to adopt a foster child, but they hit it off with a teenager,
Too many family movies dismiss the challenges of parenthood and childhood with some feel good ending. Instant Family makes no bones that any happiness is going to come with challenges that won’t go away at the end of the movie, and it’s stronger for it. Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) decide to adopt