The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022)

The People We Hate at the Wedding is the kind of messy, sharp-edged family comedy that wins you over not by pretending everyone is lovable, but by letting its characters be painfully human and then watching them stumble toward something like grace. Claire Scanlon keeps the pace lively and the tone pleasantly tart, while Kristen Bell and Ben Platt spar with the weary, battle-tested warmth of real siblings—and Allison Janney, as the mother who can’t stop pushing buttons, is a one-woman engine of laughs and bruised sincerity. It’s raunchier than it is cozy, with plenty of profanity and cringe-worthy choices, but beneath the snark there’s a genuine pulse of affection that sneaks up on you. If you like your wedding movies less romantic and more cathartic, this one offers a spirited, surprisingly heartfelt night in.

The People We Hate at the Wedding wants to be a messy-but-heartfelt family reunion comedy, using a wedding weekend to force old grudges into the open and nudge everyone toward connection. The problem is it often settles for predictable wedding-movie chaos and sitcom-level misunderstandings, with jokes that land more as noise than punchlines and a script that feels thinner than its cast deserves. The pacing can drag between set pieces, and the emotional beats arrive right on schedule rather than feeling earned, so if you’re hoping for sharp wit or real bite, you may end up checking your watch. That said, Kristen Bell and Allison Janney can still squeeze some charm out of the material, so it’s best for viewers who just want a mildly raunchy, low-stakes background comedy and don’t mind formula.