The Family That Preys, yes, it actually has preys in it, and it is not a typo; it is an American comedy-drama that was released in the year 2007. The movie was written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry, and he even acted in the movie. This situation reminds me of the movie Playback Time by Carson Clay in Mr. Beans Holiday.
The movie cannot be considered a commercial or critical success. The film grossed 37.1 million dollars domestically and averaged 53% rotten tomatoes and a 5.9 IMDb rating. The movie cannot be considered a critical failure either because a lot of reviewers rated this movie average.
Other than Tyler Perry, who plays the role of Ben in the movie, we have Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard playing the main characters, Charlotte and Alice, respectively. Sanaa Lathan, Cole Hauser, KaDee Strickland, Taraji P. Henson, etc., also play supporting roles in the series.
Charlotte and Alice are two women who share a strong friendship despite the economic gap between them. The basic plot of the movie revolves around the dramas and problems created by greed and the affairs of their family members and how it affects them and the families as a whole.
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The plot of The Family That Preys
Charlotte is a wealthy woman who goes through the troubles every rich family goes through, the family members trying to take her money from her. Her best friend is Alice, who has struggled but managed to raise her two daughters while running a diner. They maintain their good relationship despite the social and economic status that divides them.
The prologue of the story begins with Charlotte hosting Alices’ daughter Andrea’s wedding to Chris. She couldn’t do the same for her son William and his wife Jillian because they eloped to escape this very thing.
William, Charlotte’s son, congrats the couple on their wedding and even suggest that they can seek employment at his family’s construction company, a very successful one. Time skip to four years later, a lot has happened. Chris and Andrea are actually working for Charlotte’s family construction company.
Andrea’s sister Pam is now married to Ben, with whom Chris is planning to open his own construction company. Andrea has a three-year-old son Oam takes care of him and looks after Alice’s Diner.
But not everything is going great because Andrea is actually having an affair with William, which is absolutely gonna put her in trouble, but it looks like she does not care. She actually doesn’t care about a lot of things when she is not helping her mother out, but she has many designer clothes and even a Mercedes. These are actually the perks of having an affair with William, which she is enjoying.
Chris’ dreams of opening his own construction company are rebuked by Andrea. Meanwhile, he, after getting his loan application rejected, finds out that Andrea has deposited $300,000 in the bank. When confronted, she refuses to reveal much and argues for financial privacy. Meanwhile, William, on the other hand, is planning to take over the family business and even plans to vote his mother out. Charlotte hires Abigail, aka Abby, as COO.
Alice and Charlotte go for a road trip, during which it is revealed that Alice has early-onset of Alzheimer’s. Later, Abby and Jillian find out about the affair between Andrea and William. Abby even warns Andrea that she will lose her job, but Andrea believes William won’t let anything happen to her.
Meanwhile, Chris takes Andrea’s money to open his own construction company, and this pisses Andrea off. She reveals she is having an affair with William, and the money is from him. There involves a physical fight, and later the marriage is revealed in front of everybody. And all have to face the repercussion of their own actions.
William’s plan to vote his mom out fails when she brings in the biggest investor in their company Alice, who has been getting lessons on investment from her customer, who used to work for William.
William, after getting fired, ignores Andrea, even when she claims that he is her son’s father. Later on, Charlotte dies due to consuming pills wrong, and her eulogy is said by Alice.
The ending of The Family That Preys
I feel like Charlotte’s death was so unexpected, and I can’t even understand exactly what was the reason for that. The movies end with the divorce/separation between Alice and Chris, which we all expected at one point. Their relationship was beyond salvation.
What we did not expect was William and Jilliam getting back together. He is as responsible for the affair as Andrea, so I don’t understand why he is not left pathetic at the end. Andrea lives in a low-rent place with the child support she receives from Chris, who is now doing well after opening his own construction company.
There is nothing much to explain in the movie, and it is a very moral ending for everyone. But I feel like William was easily left off the hook, but then again, he lost his mother and was fired from the job. So I guess Karma really pushed through in the ending.
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