Inspired by a real family, the movie “Instant Family” is a drama/comedy about Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) who stumble across the idea of fostering and potentially adopting one young child.

The couple is asked to take in three siblings, Lita, Juan, and Lizzie, so they would not be separated. They hesitantly agree and must figure out the steps to parenting in the hopes of becoming a family.

The film shows the serious and difficult process the couple and the kids must each go through. For Pete and Ellie, it’s figuring out how to gain the kids trust and love while taking over the role of parenting from Lizzie, who essentially raised Juan and Lita.

For Lita, Juan, and Lizzie, they must learn to trust Pete and Ellie while adapting to the new structure of rules. This is especially hard for Lizzie because she feels it is too late for someone to adopt her and that Ellie and Pete don’t love her.

I loved this film because it brought light to such a beautiful and important subject of children in foster care. Critics worried the film wouldn’t fully capture the complexities of real life fostering and adoption, but the well-intentioned film highlights the small moments that build up trusting relationships between the couple and the hesitant kids.

It had just the right number of laughs and sniffles in the film, some quotes from the film like, “Things that matter are hard,” and “You have to laugh, or you’ll never make it through this,” serve as a reminder that nobody is perfect, but with structure and love, a house could become a home.

This PG-13 movie has a run time of around 2 hours.