Every holiday season is a yearly reminder that having your family all in one place is not always the easiest. The traditional dynamics of your household as a child are reinstated and family beef (of the lowkey and highkey varieties) is expressed or repressed, but existent nonetheless. The same can be said about a wedding. 

Director Claire Scanlon’s “The People We Hate at the Wedding” both examines and pokes fun at the consequences of unspoken familial grievances and the dramatic ways they can manifest. The film follows siblings Alice (Kristen Bell) and Paul (Ben Platt), their mother Donna (Alison Janney), and their tense reunion for the English wedding of their semi-estranged half-sister Eloise (Cynthia Addai-Robinson).

“The People We Hate at the Wedding” does not aim to do anything revolutionary or experimental with the comedic genre, nor should it be expected to. Its goal is to be a feel-good film, and it sort of accomplishes that. But from the predictable plot structure and series of overt zingers to the eye-rolling litany of on-the-nose needle drops, “The People We Hate at the Wedding” is awkwardly executed. 

Bell cannot carry the entire film on her shoulders, though she makes a valiant effort as the undeniable standout both with the film's humor and heart. She nails most of her punchlines, and her execution of Alice’s blunt, jaded facade perfectly sets up the character arc that Bell achieves with seamless transition. Her chemistry with Dennis (Dustin Milligan), her opposite in the film’s will-they-won’t-they subplot, is believable even within the context of their overwritten dialogue. Their pairing is the only relationship within the film that feels adequately matched in terms of performance, and therefore, narrative credibility.