The Story Archive

Ordinary People

Robert Redford · 1980 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

In a comfortable Chicago suburb a family carries on after the elder son drowned in a boating accident: the younger boy is home from a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt, seeing a doctor twice a week, and his mother cannot look at him. The father holds the arrangement together by asking everybody how they are. Redford's first as director took Best Picture over Raging Bull, which the years have not forgiven.

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Attributes

Genre
PsychologicalTragedy
Theme
Guilt & ConscienceDeath & MortalityForgivenessMotherhood
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanMentorCaregiver
Plot structure
ConfessionNonlinear / Fractured
Symbol / motif
The HouseThe LakeWinter
Conflict
vs Selfvs Person
Mode / tone
RealistElegiac
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues