Pretzels & Pills
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| Familiar Strangers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Zack Adler |
| Produced by | Barry R. Sisson and Marc Lieberman |
| Written by | John Bell |
| Starring | Shawn Hatosy DJ Qualls Tom Bower Nikki Reed Ann Dowd Cameron Richardson Georgia Mae Lively |
| Release date(s) |  2007 |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Familiar Strangers (also known as "Pretzels & Pills") is a 2008 film about an American family going through the process of negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, especially as those children grow into adulthood.
Familiar Strangers follows the Worthington family through a four-day Thanksgiving family gathering. Brian, who has moved away and kept his distance for the past several years, is reluctantly returning for this family tradition carrying the baggage of conflict with his father, Frank.
Frank feels he has failed as a father, having lost the ability to connect with his maturing children. When the children grew to adulthood and created their own identities and lives, Frank replaced them with his pets, new children “who never have to grow up”.
The film is populated by Frank and Brian, mother Dottie who holds the reins on this family beneath the surface, brother Kenny who as a twenty-something has not yet found his path, sister Erin who is struggling to find herself after a painful divorce, and Erin’s young daughter Maddy, truly wise beyond her years.
Through this story and the conflict and communication that occur, the Worthington family comes to recognize the friendship and love that can exist between parents and their adult children.
The film stars Shawn Hatosy, DJ Qualls, Tom Bower, Nikki Reed, Ann Dowd, Cameron Richardson and Georgia Mae Lively.
