X
  • 2010
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 26 m
  • 2010
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 26 m

Summary Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, filmmaker Kimberly Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother, Marc. But along the way she uncovers stunning revelations, including his blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twist...

Directed By: Kimberly Reed

  • 2010
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 26 m
  • 2010
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 26 m

Prodigal Sons

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
74
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, filmmaker Kimberly Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother, Marc. But along the way she uncovers stunning revelations, including his blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twist...

Directed By: Kimberly Reed

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
74
85% Positive
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
74
85% Positive
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Harrowing and unforgettable film.
FULL REVIEW
83
Prodigal Sons comes packed with multiple hooks. Aside from the sex-change angle, the movie takes a turn when Marc---whom Reed’s parents adopted before she was born--learns that he’s the biological son of Rebecca Welles, and the grandchild of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
By Noel Murray FULL REVIEW
80
Sad, compelling documentary leaves a few key questions frustratingly unanswered, but the raw materials here are sufficiently bracing.
By Todd McCarthy FULL REVIEW
75
Even if Prodigal Sons is ultimately more buildup than payoff, Reed is a nimble enough filmmaker to roll with unexpected developments and make poignant connections between her family's unremarkable past and its extraordinary, wrenching present.
FULL REVIEW
75
There’s still enough to chew on to recommend the movie, not least the oddly touching sight of two siblings whose very identities have been altered by surgery.
By Ty Burr FULL REVIEW
70
The unexpected directions in their family dynamics and unflinching scenes of the volatile Marc keep Prodigal Sons absorbing.
FULL REVIEW
40
Instead of pushing deeper into any psychological dilemmas, this dirty-laundry doc gets lost in a sensationalistic flurry driven by a serious emotional unraveling.
FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company BBC Storyville, Big Sky Film Productions, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), SundanceTV
Release Date Feb 26, 2010
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Tagline A brotherly rivalry between a man and a women . . . and Orson Welles
Website http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prodigal-Sons/26923841151
View All Details

Awards

Nashville Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Florida Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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