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From its debut in 2009 to its series finale in 2020, Modern Family delivered something remarkable: A consistently funny comedy with a subtle-but-deep emotional core. Its “mockumentary” structure was the perfect choice, because it allowed us to watch the extended Pritchett Family as both a fly on the wall and via direct interviews—and as any fan of The Office knows, that structure allows for some very specific joke-telling you can’t manage in a more traditional format. If you’ve watched all 11 seasons (and checked out all the similar series out there), then it’s time to branch out to movies with the same comedic sensibility. That movie definitely should be Real Life, which was co-written and directed by Albert Brooks.

Real Life (1979)

Real Life, released in 1979, isn’t as well-known as it should be. The film basically invented the mockumentary—we probably wouldn’t have The Office or Modern Family without it. At the time, it was satirizing a television series called An American Family that aired on PBS (itself regarded as the first example of what would come to be known as reality TV). An American Family followed the lives of a real family in California, and was a cultural sensation in the early 1970s. Albert Brooks saw an opportunity to have some fun with the concept—but Real Life is a lot more than just a satire of a TV show.

Brooks plays a version of himself in Real Life: a young comedian who aspires to make documentary films (and who could have been a “scientist or a doctor of some kind” if he’d been “graded more fairly” in school). He presents the project as a chance to not only document and observe a real American family, but also the filmmakers and crew.

What follows is a hilarious send-up of everyone involved. The family being documented begins to crumble under the pressure almost immediately, quickly descending into chaos and nervous breakdowns. The production team begins to fracture as Brooks engages in a series of ethically murky moves to try to goose up drama and keep the family involved despite their spiraling psyches. And Brooks repeatedly reveals himself to be an insincere and slimly talented man with an ego the size of a planet. At one point he shows up dressed as a clown to try to cheer up the kids, not realizing they’re not home, and winds up forced to have a deeply serious interview with the parents ... while dressed as a clown.

Real Life is certainly less sweet than Modern Family, but it basically invented the genre, and is deeply, deeply funny. Rent Real Life on Prime Video.

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Need more funny family films? No problem—here are a few more hilarious family-focused comedies that fans of Modern Family will love.

Parenthood (1989)

Parenthood is funny because, like Modern Family, it’s grounded in reality. Director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel all had kids at various stages of life, and they based much of the film on their own experiences raising families in the modern era, translating it into a story about the sprawling, chaotic Buckman family. It follows a huge number of storylines as it gives each family member some attention, with Steve Martin on hand to provide plenty of belly laughs along the way. Stream Parenthood on Netflix or rent it on Prime Video.

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Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Every comedy lives and dies by its characters—you have to care about them in order to laugh at (or with) them. Little Miss Sunshine offers up the Hoovers, a perfectly imperfect family. When the youngest daughter, Olive (Abigail Breslin), qualifies for a beauty pageant located nearly 1,000 miles away, the Hoovers pile into their van. Crammed in together, the family's dysfunction, insecurity, rage, and love come pouring out, usually in pretty funny ways. It all leads to one of the most heartwarming (and famous) climaxes in modern cinema, capping off a film that will delight anyone looking for the sort of warm comedy Modern Family specializes in. Rent Little Miss Sunshine on Prime Video.

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The Family Stone (2005)

The engine that drives family comedies is the tension everyone feels with their relatives. We love and hate them in equal measure, sometimes, and quirks that might seem delightful to others become excruciating to us. That’s where The Family Stone lives, telling the story of high-strung, nervous Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) meeting her boyfriend’s super-cool, tight-knit family for the first time—and on Christmas, no less. Awkward hilarity ensues as Meredith’s increasingly sweaty efforts to win over the family just make things worse, pushing everyone to a series of emotional revelations and confessions. Rent The Family Stone on Prime Video.

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Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (who grew up with 10 siblings), Cheaper by the Dozen is gently hilarious. When his wife embarks on a book tour, Tom Baker (Steve Martin) insists he can handle a household filled with raucous, chaotic children—but, of course, he’s hilariously outmatched. Like Modern Family, Cheaper by the Dozen finds plenty of real emotion as it ruminates on the bonds formed between siblings and parents, and how we all come to miss the chaos when we leave our families behind. Stream Cheaper by the Dozen on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video.

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Home for the Holidays (1995)

What Modern Family understands is that family is complicated. Our families can be funny, loving, exasperating, and sustaining all at once. Home for the Holidays, directed by Jodie Foster and starring Holly Hunter at the peak of her powers, knows this perfectly well. When Claudia (Hunter) returns home for Thanksgiving, she’s at her lowest point in life. At first, the squabbling chaos and ominous signs of incipient tragedy are alarming and triggering—but, ultimately, she finds that there’s no place else she’d rather be. Stream Home for the Holidays on Kanopy, YouTube, or Hoopla, or rent it on Prime Video.

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