Review of Rachel Getting Married, directed by Jonathan Demme

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I feel like a lot of my blog introductions, especially when it comes to movies, have been lamenting on the fact I don’t have a ton of time lately. I used to work as a film critic (which, in fact, was so incredibly underpaid that I now make more off of this blog’s display ads than I ever did publishing anywhere else), and then when I was in graduate school I was writing a lot about film, so I used to watch so many movies.

But now I work an 8-5, come home, and then doom scroll my evenings away instead of watching the movies I used to love so dearly. And recently I realized I want to stop doing that, so I’ve set limits on my phone and am fully prepared to sit back and watch more movies and read more books in order to feed my brain.

I ended up acquiring a Criterion subscription in order to try and nourish my brain in this way, and I have actually been watching a ton of movies on the Criterion Channel. I feel like I’m never going to get through the entirety of their catalogue in my life, especially considering I’m pretty broke to pay for this every single year—or at least right now.

Anyways, after watching The Devil Wears Prada 2, I ended up wanting to watch more old school Anne Hathaway movies. Imagine my surprise after this popped up on my home page—I literally ended up pressing play immediately on a work night!

Let’s get into the review.

When her older sister Rachel prepares to get married, Kym tries to get her life and addiction together.

This movie starts with the protagonist, Kym, being released from rehab. It’s only a temporary release though, as her sister Rachel is getting married, which means Kym is going back into her childhood home. As everyone else moved on with their lives and progressed through their careers, Kym has been in rehab and became the stain on the family name.

Kym specifically had substance abuse issues, but as she returns to her family and friends, she finds that she’s struggling to go back into society with them around. She hasn’t touched a drug in over nine months, but her father is uneasy at the thought of her driving. She’s forced to bike to a drug test and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, then she meets her sister’s fiance, Sidney, and the best man.

Kym and Kieran recognize each other immediately, as he was at the Narcotic meeting. They end up having sex with each other, but he also gives a small piece of information that upsets Kym: she’s not the maid of honor. She goes up to her sister to confront her about it, but we learn that Kym’s addiction has caused a huge void between the two sisters.

The rehearsal dinner happens and Kym acts erratically during it, justifying Rachel’s feelings that her sister is taking away from her special moment. During the toast Kym talks about her addiction and making amends with everyone, and Rachel calls her out later about how she thinks is performative. They get into an argument, but it ends with Rachel revealing that she’s pregnant to the family.

We learn after that, during another meeting, that Kym accidentally caused her young brother to drown. She was intoxicated and drove the car, which had both of them in it, into a lake. Things escalate before the wedding when at a salon, as the bridal party is getting their hair done. As Kym sits in the chair, a man comes up to her.

He had met her in rehab and thanks her for her story, which apparently includes having been molested by an uncle and an anorexic sister. Rachel hears all of this and storms out of the salon, then she tells the family about Kym’s lies. Kym takes her father’s car after Rachel says she will never forget her sister for what happened to their brother, and she drives to her mother’s house.

However, her mother and she get into a fight over it, as her mother doesn’t take accountability for her actions on the day of her son’s death. Kym crashes the car on the way home and lives, then wakes up the next morning when the police come up to the car. She passes their sobriety test then goes home, where she wanders into Rachel’s room.

Seeing her sister in that state, Rachel helps her sister get bathed and dressed, then sees the tattoo with their brother’s name on it. The wedding goes on with Kym as the maid of honor. Throughout the reception she tries to have fun, and her mother leaves early because of what happened.

The next morning, Kym goes back to rehab, but the movie ends with Rachel running out of the house to hug her sister one last time.

Overall Thoughts

I didn’t know what to expect before going into this movie, as I pressed play before really reading the synopsis, but I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I don’t think this is a movie I would return to, but the themes and dynamics between the characters were compelling enough for me to want to keep watching. I didn’t find the movie groundbreaking for its subject matter, but it was touching.

It’s kind of one of those quiet movies where not a lot happens, but what does happen sticks with you. I think this is a movie I’ll be ruminating about every so often in the years to come—everyone did a great job with their roles, making the subject matter more sticky in this sense.

Go watch this if you want something for a Friday night in. If the subject matter doesn’t interest you though, I think you might find this movie to be a little too dull and muted.

Follow me below on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Goodreads for more.