The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Monster Family
Animation · Family · Fantasy · 2017
The Wishbone family are far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, they plan a fun night out. However, the plan backfires when they are cursed and all turned into Monsters.
Movie details
Monster Family
2017 Animation · Family · Fantasy 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
The Wishbone family are far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, they plan a fun night out. However, the plan backfires when they are cursed and all turned into Monsters.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Monster Family?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Twits
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When the meanest, nastiest villains pull a trick to take over their town, two brave children team up with a family of magical animals to bring them down.
The Little Vampire 3D
Comedy · 2017
Tony, a thirteen-year-old boy on vacation in rural Germany, is fascinated by the idea of vampires. Meanwhile Rudolph, a vampire of "similar" age (313!), encounters trouble when his clan is threatened by a dangerously obsessed hunter. Fate brings these two boys together, as Tony & Rudolph set off an action-packed battle to stop the villain, save Rudolph's family and learn the power of friendship.
The Addams Family
Family · 2019
The Addams family's lives begin to unravel when they face-off against a treacherous, greedy crafty reality-TV host while also preparing for their extended family to arrive for a major celebration.
The Boxtrolls
Animation · 2014
An orphaned boy raised by underground creatures called Boxtrolls comes up from the sewers and out of his box to save his family and the town from the evil exterminator, Archibald Snatcher.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Animation · 2018
Dracula, Mavis, Johnny and the rest of the Drac Pack take a vacation on a luxury Monster Cruise Ship, where Dracula falls in love with the ship’s captain, Ericka, who’s secretly a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, the notorious monster slayer.
Rumble
Animation · 2021
In a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes, teenage Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a loveable underdog monster into a champion.
Hotel Transylvania
Animation · 2012
Welcome to Hotel Transylvania, Dracula's lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up and no humans are allowed. One special weekend, Dracula has invited all his best friends to celebrate his beloved daughter Mavis's 118th birthday. For Dracula catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem but the party really starts when one ordinary guy stumbles into the hotel and changes everything!
Spellbound
Animation · 2024
When a powerful spell turns her parents into giant monsters, a teenage princess must journey into the wild to reverse the curse before it's too late.
Monster Family 2
Animation · 2021
To free Baba Yaga and Renfield from the clutches of Monster Hunter Mila Starr, the Wishbone Family once more transforms into a Vampire, Frankenstein's Monster, a Mummy and a Werewolf but when aided by their three pet bats, the Monster Family zooms around the world again to save their friends, make new monstrous acquaintances.
Open Season: Scared Silly
Animation · 2015
The humans and animals believe a werewolf is on the loose, and former hunter Shaw uses the opportunity to re-open the season. Boog, Elliot, and Mr. Weenie have to face their fears and find the werewolf to get the season closed permanently.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Holger Tappe
Written by
Catharina Junk · David Safier
Emily Watson
Emma Wishbone (voice)
Nick Frost
Frank Wishbone (voice)
Jessica Brown Findlay
Fay Wishbone (voice)
Ethan Rouse
Max Wishbone (voice)
Jason Isaacs
Dracula (voice)
Catherine Tate
Baba Yaga (voice)
Ewan Bailey
Renfield (voice)
Court is in session
Put Monster Family on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.