Review: “Second Cousins” Is a Joyful Mess

Thirty relatives, one lake house, three bathrooms and a single weekend. That is the setup of “Second Cousins,” a new (fictional) ensemble comedy that throws an entire extended family together for a reunion in northern Michigan and then refuses to let anyone catch their breath. It is loud, crowded, occasionally exhausting and very often hilarious. It is also a little messy, in the way that real family gatherings are messy. You will laugh hard, you will lose track of who is married to whom and you will probably recognize at least one of your own relatives in the chaos. We had a great time, with a few reservations.

The setup

The Kowalski family has not gathered in one place since the funeral of its patriarch eleven years ago. When matriarch Agnes Kowalski turns ninety, her grandchildren decide it is time, and they rent a sprawling, slightly run-down lake house for a long Fourth of July weekend. Everyone is invited. Almost everyone comes.

The film follows a handful of central storylines. Jenna, the family planner, is trying to keep the weekend on schedule with a laminated itinerary nobody reads. Her brother Mike arrives with a new girlfriend he has not told anyone about. Two cousins who have been feuding for a decade over a borrowed lawn mower are assigned to share a bunk bed. And at the center of it all is Grandma Agnes, who has her own secret plan for the weekend and is not about to share it with anyone under eighty.

What works

Fast jokes and a terrific grandmother. Those are the two things that carry “Second Cousins,” and they carry it a long way.

The script fires off jokes at a remarkable pace. Many of them come from overlapping conversations, the kind of crosstalk that happens when twelve people are trying to make breakfast in one kitchen. The film rewards a second viewing, because you will miss half the punchlines the first time while you are laughing at the other half. A running bit about the house’s single working shower, and the elaborate schedule the family builds around it, produces some of the best physical comedy of the year.

But the real reason to see the movie is Agnes. The (fictional) actor in the role, a veteran character performer named Dorothy Lane, plays her as sharp, impatient and secretly delighted by every bit of chaos around her. She gets the film’s best lines, and she delivers them with perfect timing. A scene in which she teaches her teenage great-grandson to play poker, and then takes every dollar he has, had our screening audience applauding.

Bring your whole family. Then never discuss it again.

Our film critic

A cast that feels like family

Big ensembles can feel like a parade of cameos, but this cast genuinely seems to like one another. The actors reportedly spent a week at the real lake house before filming began, cooking meals together and playing card games, and it shows. Small moments, like a cousin automatically refilling someone’s coffee or two siblings finishing each other’s complaints, make the family feel lived in. Newcomer Lily Tran, as a sarcastic teenage sister who narrates the weekend through her phone’s camera, is a particular standout and is already drawing awards attention.

What doesn’t

A few too many subplots. With thirty relatives on screen, the film tries to give too many of them a story, and some of those stories never really land.

A subplot about a cousin trying to sell the family a time-share feels like it belongs in a different, broader movie. A romance between two in-laws is introduced in the first act and then mostly forgotten until a rushed resolution in the final ten minutes. And the lawn mower feud, while funny at first, is stretched thin by the end. A tighter edit could have trimmed fifteen minutes and made the film stronger.

The third act also leans a little hard on sentiment. After ninety minutes of comic chaos, the shift to heartfelt speeches around a bonfire feels abrupt. The speeches themselves are well written, and Agnes’s final reveal is genuinely touching, but the film does not quite earn the tonal change.

Who should see it

“Second Cousins” is rated PG-13, mostly for language and some mild innuendo, so it is best suited to teens and adults. It is an ideal pick for a group outing, especially with family members who can spot their own relatives on screen. Here is our quick guide:

• Great for: family movie nights with teens, groups of friends and anyone who has survived a big reunion.
• Good for: fans of fast, talky ensemble comedies.
• Not ideal for: viewers who want a tight plot or a quiet, focused story.
• Best seen: in a full theater, where the laughter is contagious.

A note on the setting

The film was shot on location on a lake in northern Michigan, and it looks gorgeous. Long summer evenings, fireworks over the water and a rickety dock that seems to be one cannonball away from collapse all give the movie a warm, nostalgic glow. If you have ever spent a summer weekend at a lake, you will feel right at home.

Behind the camera

The (fictional) director, Sam Patterson, previously made two small indie dramas, and this is his first comedy. He says much of the film was inspired by his own family’s reunions in Wisconsin, including the shower schedule, which he claims is barely exaggerated. Patterson shot many scenes with two or three cameras running at once so the actors could improvise and talk over each other, and that loose, overlapping style gives the movie much of its energy. It also explains some of the clutter. When you capture that much material, it is hard to let any of it go, and a few scenes feel as if they were kept because everyone was having too much fun to cut them.

The soundtrack deserves a mention, too. It is built around classic summer pop songs and a few polka tunes that Agnes insists on playing at full volume every morning. The music becomes a running joke of its own, and by the end, the whole family is dancing to it on the dock, whether they want to or not.

Key takeaway: “Second Cousins” is not tidy, but it is honest about families, and its best moments are as funny as anything in theaters this year.

How it compares

Reunion comedies are a well-worn genre, and “Second Cousins” does not break new ground. What sets it apart is energy and affection. Where some family comedies treat relatives as punchlines, this one clearly loves its characters, even the irritating ones. The jokes rarely come at someone’s expense, and the film’s warmest moments come from people choosing to stick around even when they would rather leave.

It is also refreshingly unpretentious. There is no big lesson here, just the reminder that families are complicated, loud and worth showing up for. In a year full of serious awards contenders, that simple message lands better than you might expect.

The verdict

“Second Cousins” is a joyful mess, overstuffed and uneven, but bursting with laughs and anchored by one of the best comic performances of the year. Trim a few subplots and it would be a classic. As it stands, it is a very good time at the movies and a perfect excuse to round up your own relatives. Just maybe do not book a lake house afterward.

• Rating: 3.5 / 5
• Runtime: 1 h 46 min
• Rated PG-13