Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Family That Preys, The

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 40 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Tyler Perry
Directed by: Tyler Perry
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 12, 2008
DVD: January 13, 2009
Running Time: 111 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for thematic material, sexual references and brief violence
Starring Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Tyler Perry, Cole Hauser, Sanaa Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, Taraji P. Henson, and Kadee Strickland
Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throughout many years. Suddenly, their lives become mired in turmoil as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices and a dark paternity secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. Alice’s self-centered newlywed daughter Andrea is betraying her trusting husband Chris by engaging in a torrid affair with her boss and mother’s best friend’s son William. While cheating on his wife Jillian with a string of ongoing dalliances with his mistress Andrea, William’s true focus is to replace the COO of his mother’s lucrative construction corporation. Meanwhile, Alice’s other daughter Pam, a kind but no nonsense woman married to a hard working construction worker, tries to steer the family in a more positive direction. (Lionsgate)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Daddy's Little Girls Diary of a Mad Black Woman Madea Goes to Jail Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site Madea’s Family Reunion
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
TV Guide Ken Fox
Thanks to some first-rate acting from its stars, it ranks among Perry's best.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Was it just three years ago that Perry made his feature debut with "Diary of a Mad Black Woman?" Then his filmmaking was strictly amateur; now his sweeping pans and portentous closeups approach those of Pedro Almódovar.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
Woodard conveys the rock-solid values of a true Christian without ever falling into sappiness. Bates is enjoyably larger-than-life, as the role requires.
Read Full Review >Variety Peter Debruge
Bates and Woodard strike up a real dynamic, and picture gives the duo room to improvise, leading to one raucous scene after another as they Thelma-and-Louise it in a top-down convertible.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Bob Baker
Dude, what made you refuse to screen your film for critics before it opened Friday? I'm betting you would have received an earful of praise for your writing and directing.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Staff (Not credited)
Perry's notoriously overstuffed plots have sometimes been top-heavy, but this movie, like Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters," hangs on an elegant structure that doesn't feel forced.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
All over the place:It's a boardroom/family/couples/road-trip story.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Sam Adams
Perry deserves due respect for exploiting an untapped niche.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Though better than most of Perry's broad comedies, The Family That Preys still suffers from excessive predictability and mawkish sentiment, which detracts from the story's believability.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
What's memorable here is the sparkling chemistry between Bates and Woodard, whose scenes together are a pleasure to watch, even as one thinks that their next outing should be to co-teach a master class entitled, "How To Rise Above Cliché."
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
Contradictions abound in this messy and unfocused drama that purports to believe that family is everything, when all else fails.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton
The usual mawkishness is made slightly more palatable by the two leads and by Perry himself.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Family, sadly, is a plate of leftovers: a bland, baldly written melodrama about two longtime best friends and their messed-up families.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The suds that cascade through Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys more than equal the cubic footage from nighttime soaps like "Dallas," "Dynasty" and their offspring.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Lawrence T gave it a10:
Perry's best so far. Positive reviews.
Michelle J. gave it a9:
I loved the entire life lesson that this movie brought out. I really felt like I learned from it. Real life aspects were brought out in this movie. It did not have a perfect happy ending for every one but then again, life does not always have a perfect happy ending. I LOVED THIS MOVIE!
Deniece F. gave it a10:
This was an excellent movie! I saw it at the movies and will definitiely be adding it to my dvd collection.
Pat E. gave it a10:
Do yourself a favor and forget the two negative reviews that were left. The other 34 reviewers have their heads on straight. Now back to it...This movie was very good, sure it isn't anything new, but well executed and well acted by tyler perry and the rest of the cast. Any fan of Tyler Perry will enjoy this one unless you were expecting it to be a religious flick.
Jay H. gave it a3:
Yet more Tyler Perry far fetched melodramatics, nice acting but the screenplay is completely unconvincing. Poor direction, fair score. Unmemorable and pointless.
Charles W. gave it a1:
I was between watching the family that preys or high school musical 3 but i decided to watch the family that preys with my homies intead of HSM 3 with my girl and i really got bored in this movie so without the movie staff noticing i changed to the HSM 3 screen and enjoyed a great movie. Dont watch this movie. It is not worth it if you dont like senseless movies.
Judy K. gave it a10:
Wonderful the acting,,,,edting...the music thank you Tyler Perry for a movie I could watch and feel good about as a Christian, Next time Tyler get a better wig.
