Sister of the Groom

Audrey (Alicia Silverstone) and her husband Ethan (Tom Everett Scott) head to the Hamptons for Audrey’s brother Liam’s (Jake Hoffman) wedding. Liam is set to marry a French woman much younger than himself, called Clemence (Mathilde Ollivier), whom he claims is different from the rest because she makes him feel something new. Though the couple’s families appear to be getting along just fine at first, Clemence does not match up to Audrey’s expectations. Their personalities clash over a dinner gathering, setting off a chain reaction, to which both fall prey.

The plot, for the most part, is over-simplistic. There is not much conflict in the lives of the characters – the arguments are there, but they are not explored deeply enough; tension between Audrey and Clemence is repetitive and adds little to the storyline. The development of Silverstone’s character over the course of the film has its merits, with Audrey discovering the purest form of love not in what is on the surface but in acceptance.

Being a rom-com, it is to be expected that the film’s performances are occasionally heightened, but here it happens all too often, resulting in the line between humour and distraction becoming wildly blurred. Nevertheless, Ollivier’s delivery is promising; she steps effortlessly into the carefree role of youth, and ventures as far as to bring out her character’s vulnerability and a completely different side.

Sister of the Groom is a lighthearted – perhaps unsophisticated – film that celebrates what it means to be a woman, exploring the female spirit through all its highs and lows. 

Ghazaleh Golpira

Sister of the Groom is released nationwide on 21^st November 2020.

Watch the trailer for Sister of the Groom here: