As we often do, we recently had a date night and were eager to watch Instant Family, an American comedy-drama film starting Mark Wahlberg & Rose Byrne as two parents who go on to adopt three young children. We're on the road to adoption so thought this would be a great film to watch and that we can hopefully relate to for what we have seen/heard and learnt so far.
The film is based on a true story and considering our progression through the adoption process - we wanted to see for ourselves exactly how the film and story would go.
Pete (Wahlberg) and Ellie (Byrne) are made fun of by their relatives who believe they will never have children. However this is the catalyst for considering the adoption of a child. Initially half-heartedly they attend an 8 week foster parents course and are guided through this by two social workers who relay the often harsh reality of what may lay ahead for them both and their prospective family. Once they have completed the course they attend an adoption fair (which we are aware is becoming rather common in the adoption world).
They observe teenagers at the fair who are not approached by any of the prospective foster parents and it is from this that Pete and Ellie meet Lizzy. She is quick to tell them they know nobody wants to adopt teenagers and this obviously hits a chord with them. They discuss the possibility of fostering Lizzy with the social workers who advise that her mother is a drug addict who is in jail and that their home had been set on fire as she had left the crack pipe lit. Along with Lizzy are her two siblings which Pete and Ellie agree to foster.
Although things are initially very pleasant, things quickly become very hectic! We don’t want to spoil or reveal the rest of the storyline, but we thoroughly recommend going to watch the film and stay until the credits - that’s all we’ll say! We found it extremely emotional, heartwarming, scary but most of all - we walked out of the cinema knowing the journey we are on is the right one and whilst there is a lot to come that is extremely scary - we look forward to every single moment.
We would love to hear others thoughts and views on this film - so please do let us know!