Family Switch
Release poster
Directed by	McG
Screenplay by	Victoria Strouse Adam Sztykiel
Story by	Victoria Strouse
Based on	Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Produced by	Lawrence Grey Ben Everard Nicole King Solaka Jennifer Garner McG Mary Viola
Starring	Jennifer Garner Ed Helms Emma Myers Brady Noon Rita Moreno
Cinematography	Marc Spicer
Edited by	Brian Olds
Music by	Pinar Toprak
Production companies	Grey Matter Productions Linden Productions Wonderland Sound and Vision
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	November 30, 2023 (2023-11-30)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Family Switch is a 2023 American comedy film directed by McG, written by Adam Sztykiel and Victoria Strouse, and starring Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms. The film is based on the 2010 children's book Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.^[1] It was released by Netflix on November 30, 2023, and received negative reviews from critics.

The film has a plot about body swapping, involving multiple members of the same family.

Plot

In Los Angeles, the Walker family, comprising the working couple Jess and Bill, along with their three children CC, Wyatt and Miles, are a divided family: the parents and the children routinely find themselves at odds, primarily due to their respective outlooks towards life. With Christmas approaching, the convivial parents vainly attempt to draw the emotionally-distant children to spend more time together than individually. During an excursion to the Griffith Observatory to witness a rare planetary alignment, the fissures between the family erupt - with Jess and CC, Bill and Wyatt simultaneously wishing the opposite to try being the other self for a more intimate understanding. While asking an astrologer, Angelica, to take a family picture, a blinding flash rocks the observatory; in the melee, the family accidentally damage the telescope.

The next morning, the family awaken to find themselves spiritually split from each other: Jess and CC, Bill and Wyatt find themselves in the bodies of their opposites, much to their horror. Moving to resolve the quagmire, the family employ their unknowing neighbor Rolf to babysit toddler Miles and family dog Pickles, who were also switched. At the observatory, the family manage to bribe the staff to accelerate the telescope's repairs with the aim of reverting into their original bodies by the end of the planetary alignment.

Attempts by the family to pursue their regular lives in their opposite bodies culminates in disaster: Jess - originally CC's soul, attempts to deliver a presentation to an important client on her mother's behalf, which is ruined when she hastily devours ice cream, kicking in her mother's lactose intolerance, causing her to fart profusely during the meeting, while CC - containing Jess' soul, intentionally compromises her daughter's crucial soccer match to help an injured opponent, which is witnessed by a national recruiter in attendance; Wyatt - containing Bill's soul, bungles his son's interview for a Yale scholarship with his nonchalant attitude; Bill - containing Wyatt's soul, nevertheless, is invited to a party hosted by his son's crush, Ariana.

Exasperated, the family proceed to discover that the telescope is missing a specially-made lens that is crucial to its functioning. Realizing that next alignment would not be until 2162, Bill calls in a favor to procure the lens early. Privately, Bill divulges the invitation to Wyatt, who reluctantly attends with CC; he ends up fumbling a would-be intimate moment with Ariana, nevertheless, he finally stands up to his son's bully. Meanwhile, Jess and Bill, who are pressured into kissing by their unknowing neighbors, sneak into the party, where the four manage to enjoy a moment of togetherness, which is sunk when Bill learns of Wyatt's rejection of Ariana.

The next day, however, the family learn the truth of their opposite selves, Jess discovers her mother's sacrifices at work for her daughter's soccer talent, while CC discovers her daughter's academic sincerity outside of soccer; Bill discovers that his father had sacrificed a potential music career to be a parent. Accepting that their individual life pursuits may have been lost owing to the switching, the family resolve to stay together irrespectively. They team up to sing at the father's music concert, which is attended by Jess' clients. The show is a success, and Jess is awarded a promotion. Bill finally receives the crucial telescopic lens; the family race to the observatory, with assistance from Angelica. They make it in time, but Bill accidentally slips over, destroying the lens in the process. However, they discover Miles had pocketed the original lens before the switch; they use it, but nothing occurs.

The next morning, the family discovers they have reverted to their original bodies. Wyatt patches up with Ariana, sharing a first kiss with her; CC is given a second chance for national soccer tryouts by the recruiter, who admired her sportsmanship at the game. Angelica watches the reunited family, wishing them a merry Christmas before driving away.

Cast

Production

In February 2021, it was reported that Jennifer Garner would star in the film, then titled Family Leave.^[2] By November 2022, Ed Helms was reported to star in the film, with McG serving as director.^[3] In December 2022, Emma Myers and Brady Noon were cast as the children of Garner and Helms' characters.^[4]

Principal photography took place in Los Angeles in February 2023, with Marc Spicer serving as the cinematographer.^[5]

Release

Family Switch was released on Netflix on November 30, 2023.^[6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 41% of 29 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10.^[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 37 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.^[8]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote, "Family Switch has bits and pieces of amusement, but mostly you want to swap it for a better movie".^[9] Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter said: "The body-swap comedy isn't good so much as it is completely and totally innocuous. Its characters are drawn in the broadest of strokes and the plot points unfold along creakily predictable beats, but it's too blandly sweet to be irritating or offensive. If you're just looking to fill a movie-shaped hole in your holiday plans, that might make it passable enough".^[10]

References

External links

• Family Switch on Netflix
• Family Switch at IMDb