Following the release of the chaotic holiday movie Best. Christmas. Ever. Netflix is back with another festive family flick: Family Switch. If you ever wondered what would happen if every family member in Disney's Freaky Friday traded places with each other, this is the right movie for you! While I definitely had fun watching the awkward shenanigans unfold, I wish the movie had taken bigger risks.
Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms lead the cast of Family Switch, playing Jess and Bill Walker. Excited for the holiday season, the parents find themselves struggling to connect with their teenage children CC (Emma Myers) and Wyatt (Brady Noon). When a fight breaks out during a trip to the planetarium to see a once-in-a-lifetime planetary alignment, a telescope breaks and something major happens with the family. The following morning they wake up in each other’s bodies — including the youngest Walker who has switched with the family dog, Pickles. Now, the family must figure out how to carry out their important duties while being in each other's bodies. Adding even more pressure is the fact that they have to figure out how to switch back before the planetary alignment ends.
There’s no denying that Family Switch delivers on its premise. It’s packed full of awkward situations brought on by the body swapping and tons of hilarious mischief. Plus, the Netflix comedy was compared to 13 Going On 30 by many critics, so fans of the beloved Garner-led rom-com are in for a treat. There are even a few nods to Christmas along the way that make it a holiday-adjacent film. However, despite having a stellar cast and fun premise, it failed to break out of the cliches we’ve come to expect in body-swapping movies, leaving me quite disappointed.
The Story Felt Too Formulaic From The Beginning
One of my biggest problems with Family Switch is that it set things up too nicely, and was very formulaic. Anyone who has ever seen a body swap movie knows that there has to be a certain level of stakes to make it worth it. The characters have to be on separate pages and there have to be major life events going on that will have them racing against time to switch back. This Netflix flick is no exception.
From the very opening scenes, it’s clear that CC and Wyatt do not find their parents entertaining in the slightest. They’re on completely different wavelengths and can’t seem to agree on much. In addition, the movie sets up four separate major events the characters are looking forward to. Jess is gearing up for a career-changing pitch session. Bill is slated to take the stage with his new band and hopefully make his rockstar dreams come true. CC has a very important soccer scout coming to see her play. And Wyatt has an interview with the Yale admissions officers that he can’t mess up. With so much riding on these moments and the family members not valuing them equally, it’s easy to see disaster coming. And boy, does it come!
After that, the movie follows a similar plot structure as the Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan-led Freaky Friday. There’s a magical incident that leaves the family flustered (the breaking of the telescope), followed by a chaotic morning scene where everyone grapples with their new bodies. We then get the standard montage of the family trying their best to embody their new identities but ultimately making things worse. It all gets tied together with a nice neat bow as they realize that they’ve been underestimating each other the entire time.
There’s even a conspiring secondary character in Family Swith played by the talented Rita Moreno that feels inspired by the restaurant owner's mother-daughter duo in the Disney movie. And of course, their first attempt at switching back doesn’t work, forcing them to dig deeper into what is broken.
It Would Have Been More Entertaining Had It Taken Bigger Risks
Given that Netflix typically isn't afraid of releasing risky movies and shows, I’m disappointed that they chose to go such a cliche route. Family Switch truly has a fun premise that falls flat because it fails to break out from the genre.
I, for one, think it would have been entertaining had the body switching been different. We’ve already seen what happens when a mother-daughter duo switches bodies, but what would happen if it was a father-daughter? Or even sister-brother? Sure, it might leave people a little uneasy when they question how the logistics of being in someone else’s body works, but the writers didn’t seem too worried about making the audience uncomfortable when they forced the siblings to kiss each other in their parents’ bodies.
The biggest risk that came from the body switching happened between the baby and the dog. Unfortunately, it was treated as comedic relief instead of an actual plot point. It’s a shame too since the odd body swap could have created conflict for the family and the neighbor they trusted to watch the toddler and dog.
I also was hoping for a bigger and better plot twist. It was clear to me the minute Moreno’s Angelica appeared that she was the magical being responsible for the switch. Though it’s never outwardly stated in the movie, I think everyone can agree that’s what happened. To me, it would have been more interesting if it was some kind of weird planetary fate thing. Honestly, going that route might have made it more believable too, given the popularity of astrology.
Family Switch also had the opportunity to incorporate Christmas more and instead, it shied away from the holiday almost entirely. Instead of making the holiday a key reason for needing to switch back, professional goals were the stakes. I’m not sure what setting the movie during Christmas did, other than allow the cast to break out into a rock and roll rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” during the third act.
Maybe I am being too harsh because I’m such a big fan of Freaky Friday, but I had high hopes that Family Switch would become one of Netflix’s best Christmas movies. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Still, the body-swapping flick is worth checking out, especially if you need to escape your own family this holiday season. Head on over to Netflix with an active subscription to stream the movie.
The holidays might be quickly approaching, but Christmas movies are just getting started. Keep an eye on our 2023 Christmas movie schedule so you don’t miss any of the holiday cheer that has yet to be released.
