A Little Family Drama (2024) Review

“A Little Family Drama” is a heartwarming dramedy about three generations of the Mexican American Sepulveda family in the days leading up to their annual family reunion.

Anselma (Alma Martinez) is the family matriarch, and with her children, Victoria (Romi Davis) and Matias (Ramon O. Torres), she runs a family-owned restaurant. However, much has changed since the recent passing of Anselma’s husband.

Anselma, Victoria, and Matias have different ideas about the restaurant and the direction of their lives as they navigate their new pathways.

Anselma, affectionately called Abuela, is looking to move on from the family restaurant since her husband, Abuelo, is no longer around. Now a widow, she feels it’s time to break free of family traditions and start a new chapter in her life. Matias, an entrepreneur, has dreams of his own; however, a failed investment effort has left him as a viral sensation with passersby randomly asking him to shout the catchphrase, “I pico’d my pants!” Additionally, Anselma and Matias have taken out a loan against the restaurant. The loan is about to enter default and threaten the family business. Victoria is fighting to keep the restaurant along with the family’s longstanding traditions.

As the reunion closes in, family tensions build, with each family member dealing with their own issues and personal drama, but ultimately, everything comes back to the Sepulveda family and how their individual action impacts the family as a whole.

New characters and additional family are introduced throughout, leading to the reunion, where a boiling point is reached and family truths are revealed.

The setup makes for some incredibly genuine and sincere moments mixed with dramatic tension and a layer of comedy throughout.

Director Nadia Zoe does a wonderful job of capturing the Sepulveda family dynamics and balancing the dramatic moments with comedic elements that never disrupt the flow of the story, but feel natural every step of the way.

The story balances numerous plotlines and variety of characters but it never feels like too much for Zoe to handle. Instead, the viewer is guided on a journey with this family — a journey that brings us to care about each family member, and rather than rooting for one against another, we are hoping all of them can find a way to make their individual dreams come to fruition.

Each of the leads embrace their roles and play it with a sense of believability, one that makes it feel like these are more than actors, but an actually family.

Independent films, especially dramas have so many ways they can go wrong and so many traps they can succumb too. Zoe avoids the obvious choices at every turn and takes the movie in meaningful directions.

From the opening sequence to the final frames of “A Little Family Drama,” the viewer is compelled to join the Sepulvedas on their journey as we hope for the best for the easy-to-love family, and wonderfully crafted film.