American love comedy A Family Affair, written and directed by Richard LaGravenese, was released in 2024. Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Liza Koshy, Kathy Bates, and Zac Efron are among the film’s cast members.

Netflix is scheduled to release A Family Affair on June 28, 2024.

The much more edgy MotherF*&#er was the original title of the new romantic comedy A Family Affair. While the story of an older woman who begins an affair with her 24-year-old daughter’s younger movie star boss is hilarious, it may set unrealistic expectations for what is ultimately a clever, character-driven romantic comedy that features a delicious cast, a clever script, and an engaging situation for everyone. The general title is more accurate since it highlights how three individuals are intimately involved in a multigenerational coming-of-age story about everyone’s quest for happiness.

In fact, Netflix is utilizing the film’s original title in their advertisement—”A MotherF*&#er of a Love Story”—and it effectively captures the essence of the story. A Family Affair finds plenty of mileage in a similar setup, following in the footsteps of Amazon’s romantic comedy The Idea of You, in which a fortysomething single mother (Anne Hathaway) finds unexpected love with a 24-year-old rock superstar played by (Nicholas Galitzine) when she chaperones her teenage daughter to his group’s concert.

Nicole Kidman portrays Brooke Harwood, a well-known novelist who is going through a slump in her career. She meets a much younger guy, action movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron), who is also Brooke’s daughter Zara’s rather demanding and arrogant boss. She finds herself in a frustrating position in her work, still having to serve Cole’s every whim as his assistant and not being able to advance to associate producer, despite his assurances that she may. On the days that she doesn’t threaten to resign, he instead makes repeated threats to terminate her. But when sparks flare following a fortuitous encounter between Chris and Zara’s mother—with whom she still resides at home—life is about to get extremely complex.

After 11 years of widowhood, Brooke isn’t really seeking for love. She is sensible, happy for her daughter, and optimistic about the future for her, but she is now falling in love with a movie star who is actually rather insecure. Zara has her doubts, to put it mildly, because she has always been the one to do out the grunt work in Cole’s past relationships, where he often ends things with a present of diamond earrings. She is right to be afraid that things with her mother may go worse since this new connection is a bit too personal.

Screenwriter Carrie Solomon was roughly Zara’s age when she was inspired to write a script about the romance between an older woman and a younger man. This was a departure from the standard Hollywood formula of older man/younger woman, which has long been favored in films or in high-profile real-life pairings like the one that May December was recently inspired by. She purposefully chose to put the movie around the Christmas season, but since it’s not really a “Christmas movie,” its June premiere doesn’t feel out of place.

The casting of these romantic comedies is incredibly important, and luckily Kidman and Efron had a head start because they were in Lee Daniels’ very different film, the 2012 drama The Paperboy. Even though the two stars are 21 years apart in age, you can see the spark between them right away. And how welcome it is to watch Kidman, who is really attractive in this part, in a rare romantic comedy that she obviously loves and that she can actually honestly root in truth. We have to accept that this pompous movie star, who is always catered to, may be genuinely drawn to the mother of his long-suffering helper, and vice versa, and the actors convince us of this.

Regarding Efron, he has impeccable comedic timing, particularly when it comes to his professional connection with Zara, when the two classic screwball comedies bounce off one another. King is fantastic in this part, demonstrating that her remarkable skills for comedy—even in slapstick moments—are just as applicable as they are to more tormented dramatic roles, such as The Act and the current We Were the Lucky Ones.

The always dependable Kathy Bates, who frequently appears in supporting parts these days, contributes wonderfully to the mix. In this instance, she plays Brooke’s mother-in-law and editor, giving wise counsel to both Brooke and her own granddaughter. Zara assigns game Liza Koshy the more traditional position of best friend, but she doesn’t really get to play with it.

This is one of filmmaker Richard LaGravenese’s greatest works to date. He is most recognized for his screenplays for The Fisher King, The Horse Whisperer, The Bridges of Madison County, and many more films. He deftly handles this situation’s comedic rhythms while also skillfully bringing the more poignant parts into balance. Rather than reinventing the rom-com, he and Solomon have given adults a sophisticated and bright film that is becoming harder to find, at least outside of streaming services, which is precisely where this one, like The Idea of You, will have to be found. Look for it.