'Rachel Getting Married’: A Charged and Engrossing Drama About Grief, Accountability and the Complexities of Kinship

Rachel Getting Married (2008) is a charged and engrossing human drama starring Anne Hathaway as Kym Buchman, a recovering addict granted a pass from rehab to attend the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt).

Reconvening at the family home in Connecticut, Kym and her parents Paul (Bill Irwin) and Abby (Debra Winger) prepare to celebrate Rachel's nuptials to Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) in an Indian-themed celebration. Rehearsals, toasts and jam sessions ensue while awkward conversations expose old wounds from the family’s unresolved grief over their lost son. Kym’s need for attention collides with Rachel’s desire for an unburdened celebration, pushing them toward a fraught form of accountability.

Directed by Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia), Rachel Getting Married offers an unvarnished look at addiction’s painful ripple effects. Demme fills the proceedings with live music and spontaneity, while Hathaway delivers one of her finest performances as a rough-hewn addict on the edge. Shot in a loose, handheld, quasi-documentary style, it's a sharp and unglamorous exploration of sibling rivalry and the innate complexities of a family living beyond devastating loss.

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