Brotherly Battle for Righteousness: A 'Normal' American Family's Struggle

In "A Normal Family," you might easily interpret the title with a touch of irony. The story revolves around a family composed of two sub-families headed by siblings Jae-wan (played by Sul Kyung-gu) and Jae-gyu (portrayed by Jang Dong-gun). This narrative, directed by Hur Jin-ho, presents itself as a biting, darkly humorous drama (adapted from the 2009 novel "The Dinner") where nothing about their experiences can be described as typical.

However, the minor complaints that govern their behavior? The subtle condescension and self-righteous attitude some members exhibit? Those aspects are all too recognizable.

In an initial encounter, Jae-wan (who works as a lawyer) and Jae-gyu (a pediatrician) clash over Jae-wan's choice to represent someone implicated in a hit-and-run incident that resulted in the death of a pedestrian and serious injuries to the victim’s child. Their bond has long been taut due to numerous issues — including their sickly mother, mutual disdain between their spouses, and disparities within their financial status despite both being affluent individuals; notably, Jae-wan enjoys greater wealth than Jae-gyu does. This case selection by Jae-wan provides Jae-gyu with clear ethical superiority he had previously sought after. As the physician attending to the critically hurt girl, Jae-gyu finds himself deeply disturbed by his sibling taking up such a contentious client. He dismisses Jae-wan’s arguments regarding universal legal rights or how each party merely performs professional duties irrespective of personal beliefs.

You're only doing this for profit," Jae-gyu snaps at his brother. "I'm doing it to help others.

As the story progresses in the movie, it becomes evident that despite Jae-gyu believing he has superior morals compared to his brother, this perception actually conceals profound underlying resentment, particularly towards financial matters. could surrendered his soul to the devil for the sake of money, yet he won’t But when the two brothers' offspring become entangled in a horrific, violent criminal act, Jae-gyu discovers that everybody has their limits, and "A Normal Family" transforms into an allegory for the upper-middle-class, revealing just how fragile the appearance of decency and ethics can be.

In "A Normal Family," one of the initial scenes depicts a car crash that creates tension between the brothers. This distressing event is shown in a single, uninterrupted take. When we're introduced to Jae-gyu and Jae-wan’s children—Hye-yoon (played by Hong Ye-ji) and Si-ho (portrayed by Kim Jung-chul)—they aren’t occupied with their studies as they had told their parents; rather, they are fixated on viewing the footage of the accident online. Their eyes are wide open, seemingly excited, completely absorbed in what’s playing on the screen.

You get the sense that these parents have no real idea what’s going on with their children –  Hye-yoon, who’s pretty, high achieving, smart, but feels inordinately bored with all of those qualities; and Si-ho, who’s quiet, withdrawn, but with an undercurrent of anger coursing through his veins. As the plot unfolds, and particularly after the teenagers commit the crime that characterizes the second half of the movie, these two characters become far less interesting than their parental counterparts. They’re almost full-on psychos, actually, which feeds into the film’s dark humor, but doesn’t necessarily lend itself to complex character study.

The two sets of parents really form the crux of the film’s thematic interests, particularly when it comes to class, family, and how shaky our principles can be when confronted with reality. Before heading to dinner with Jae-wan and his wife Ji-su (a delightfully funny Claudia Kim, playing perhaps the most clear-eyed and moral character of the bunch), Jae-gyu’s wife Yeon-kyung (Kim Hee-ae) wonders if Ji-su will make her rice cakes again – she met Jae-wan when delivering rice cakes to his law firm.

Yeon-kyung disparages the fact that Ji-su used a different type of flour the last time she made them. “Rice cakes are rice cakes,” she says. “Trying to sound all fancy.” In response, Jae-gyu muses that Jae-wan has had a taste for rice cakes since he was a little kid, revealing the level of immaturity he believes his brother holds. Jae-gyu sees Jae-wan’s relative wealth as a moral failing of sorts – his large home, his immoral job, his new baby, his much younger wife. In their eyes, he is a bad man who made cunning choices in order to have a richer life. And, of course, they’re jealous.

But, in the end it doesn’t really come down to good and evil, but rather law and order. Jae-gyu is willing to break the rules if it means something good will come of it – the type of doctor who will proceed with surgery even if the bill isn’t paid yet. Jae-wan, on the other hand, believes in the law of things. A man might have run over another man on purpose, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a lawyer.

The difference is Jae-gyu’s moral authority is a mask while Jae-wan’s belief in the law proves to be real. As much as he preaches the importance of doing the right thing, when the right thing involves his son, Jae-gyu’s virtuous fortitude disappears. He drives his child to the police station, and chickens out. To save face, he has scoots out of the hospital’s chapel on the floor, pulling himself underneath the pews so that the injured little girl’s mother won’t see him crying. In the face of something bad happening to his child – and in the face of a hit to his own upright reputation – he starts to crumble.

One of the last images we see in “A Normal Family” is a big family portrait, both families and the brothers’ mother smiling warmly at the camera. We’re left with this image of a perfect family, knowing that the perfect ideal is as thin as the piece of paper of the photograph, and just as easy to rip into pieces.

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