Trailer for Comedy ‘Relative’ About a Dysfunctional Family in Chicago
by Alex Billington
February 28, 2024
Source: YouTube
“I don’t want an empty nest!” Music Box Films has posted their official trailer for an indie drama about a family titled Relative, from filmmaker Michael Glover Smith. This originally premiered back in 2022, but we have only caught up with it now and haven’t ever posted about this film before. It played at a few small film festivals in 2022/2023, with a very limited release in art house theaters around the country. As various members of the Frank family come together for a college graduation party in Chicago, they find their bonds being tested, and strengthened, in surprising ways. The story focuses on the parents of four kids, who decide to announce that they’re about to sell the house they grew up in. “Relative is a warm blend of comedy and drama about a modern American family.” This stars Wendy Robie, Francis Guinan, Cameron Scott Roberts, Clare Cooney, Keith D. Gallagher, Emily Lape, Melissa DuPrey, and Elizabeth Stam. The review quoted all over this marketing says that it’s an “impeccably cast [and] superbly directed” film from Chicago. A handful of unknown actors might actually give great performances in an indie flick like this.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Michael Glover Smith’s film Relative, direct from YouTube:
David & Karen Frank (Francis Guinan & Wendy Robie) are retirement-age progressive activists & parents who have lived in the same Victorian home on the north side of Chicago for 30 years. It’s the house their children grew up and where two of them, Benji (Cameron Scott Roberts) & Rod (Keith D. Gallagher), still live. On the eve of Benji’s college graduation, daughters Evonne (Clare Cooney) & Norma (Emily Lape) return from out-of-state for a weekend celebration. Evonne brings her daughter, and newly separated wife; Norma is alone, with thoughts of wasted potential as she reconsiders her life; Rod, an unemployed burnout, pines for his ex who left years ago; and all Benji wants to do is escape the party to rendezvous with a free-spirited actress he met the night prior. As David & Karen announce the potential sale of their home, each member of the Frank family finds their bonds with the others being tested and strengthened in many surprising ways. Relative is a warm blend of comedy and drama about a modern American family.
Relative is both written and directed by American indie filmmaker Michael Glover Smith, director of the indie films Cool Apocalypse, Mercury in Retrograde, and Rendezvous in Chicago previously, plus other short films. Produced by Clare Cooney & Aaron Wertheimer. This initially premiered at the 2022 Gasparilla Film Festival, and a few other small festivals that same year. The film was first released in select US theaters last year. Music Box Films is handling the US release of Relative – for more info, visit the film’s official site.
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