Folks!

Folks!

Year: 1992

Runtime: 107 mins

Language: English

Director: Ted Kotcheff

Comedy

A slightly self absorbed yuppie takes in his parents including his senile father, after their home burns down. But his personal and professional life fall apart soon after.

Folks! (1992) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Folks! (1992) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In a polished suburb where sleek offices and immaculate lawns define success, a driven stockbroker enjoys the trappings of a modern yuppie life. His days are filled with high‑stakes trades, carefully planned weekend getaways, and the reassuring rhythm of a stable family. Yet beneath the polished surface, the demands of ambition and appearance hint at a fragile equilibrium that could shatter with a single misstep.

When his elderly father, a once‑sharp man now softened by dementia, inadvertently reduces his own home to ashes, the protagonist is forced to confront a responsibility he had long set aside. He reaches out to his sister, hoping she might shoulder the burden, but she remains distant, leaving the aging couple with no refuge but his own doorstep. The arrival of his parents—Harry and Mildred—upends the meticulously ordered household, introducing a cascade of unanticipated challenges that test his patience, his ego, and the very foundation of his identity.

The home, once a sanctuary for Jon Aldrich and his wife Audrey, becomes a stage for daily chaos. The senior couple’s unpredictable needs, coupled with the subtle yet relentless erosion of his professional confidence, begin to strain the marriage and threaten the stability of his career. Small mishaps evolve into larger crises, each one exposing cracks in the façade of control he so carefully maintains. The tension between caring for family and preserving personal ambition creates a palpable undercurrent of anxiety, seasoned with darkly comic moments that underscore the absurdity of his predicament.

Set against a backdrop of suburban conformity and corporate pressure, the film balances humor with a sober look at how quickly life can tip into disarray when obligations multiply. As the protagonist navigates this sudden avalanche of responsibility, the audience is drawn into a world where love, duty, and self‑preservation collide, leaving a lingering question: how far will one go to keep the pieces of a life that’s suddenly slipping through his fingers?

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 at 04:43

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Movies about family chaos and slapstick misfortune like Folks!

When a normal life gets turned upside down by the absurd antics of family.If you liked the chaotic, high-stress comedy of Folks!, you'll enjoy these movies where orderly lives are upended by absurd family antics. This list features fast-paced comedies with slapstick humor and relentless misfortune, all leading to a heartfelt resolution.

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Narrative Summary

These stories typically follow a stable protagonist who, out of a sense of duty, takes in eccentric or difficult family members. This act triggers a domino effect of calamities—job loss, financial strain, physical comedy—that rapidly escalates. The narrative is a linear downward spiral of misfortune that ultimately finds a neat, optimistic resolution, affirming family bonds through the chaos.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped by their shared farcical approach to serious topics like family responsibility, their fast-paced, escalating plot structure, and their blend of high-stress slapstick with an underlying, sincere emotional core.

Absurdist comedies with escalating trouble like Folks!

Stories where one small problem snowballs into a avalanche of hilarious disasters.Fans of Folks! will enjoy these absurdist comedies where a protagonist's life spirals into a cascade of hilarious misfortunes. Discover movies with a light tone, fast pacing, and a narrative built on one calamity leading to the next, all resolved with optimistic endings.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern is one of exponential acceleration: a relatively minor problem quickly balloons into an overwhelming series of bizarre and unfortunate events. The protagonist is often a straight man reacting to an increasingly insane world, and the plot moves rapidly from one set piece of chaos to the next. Despite the heavy themes that may be touched upon, the treatment is consistently frivolous and humorous.

Why These Movies?

They share a core comedic engine: the absurd escalation of trouble. The similarity lies in the fast pacing, the light tone used to handle potentially dark subjects, and the specific pattern of a linear, downward-comedic spiral.

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Folks! Summary

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Folks! Summary

Folks! Timeline

Track the full timeline of Folks! with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Folks! Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Folks!

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Folks!

More About Folks!

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Discover movies like Folks! that share similar genres, themes, and storytelling elements. Whether you’re drawn to the atmosphere, character arcs, or plot structure, these curated recommendations will help you explore more films you’ll love.