When exploring the subject of death and the grieving process, there’s no shortage of artworks that set out to investigate what it means to lose someone. Most are melancholic, others more bittersweet or heartwarming. However, there are a select few that are slightly more sardonic, if not outright absurd. The reality is that any loss entails a combination of all of these sensations, and many more, and the process of dealing with death can be a very difficult one to handle, especially when enduring additional factors that go beyond just mourning the demise of a loved one. That is where we find Eulogy, the first film written and directed by Michael Clancy, in which he explores the concept of mourning a loss through a bitingly funny satire built around a familiar premise. The story centres around the Collins family as they travel to their childhood home after the death of their father. The focus is on the three adult siblings: former child star (and current adult film actor) David, the controlling Alice, the eternally victimised Lucy and the laid-back Skipper, all of whom descend on the quaint suburb in which they were raised, accompanied by their respective children and spouses (where applicable) and tasked with helping with the upcoming funeral preparations, as well as handling their mother, who seems to be on the precipice of suicide. Over the course of a couple of days, the family engage in a spirited game of psychological tug-of-war, old wounds are reopened, and secrets are revealed, with the expected amount of chaos very soon ensuing. A film that is very much built on a simple premise that is masterfully brought to life, albeit without being all that original or daring beyond a few interesting elements, Eulogy is a film far better than its reputation would suggest, even if there are a few weak points that prevent it from entirely achieving the kind of greatness that it was very much held within its grasp.

The entirety of Eulogy is built around one very simple question: what happens when the world’s most dysfunctional family gathers together to mourn the death of their patriarch? It’s not too loaded of a concept, and its one that is flexible enough to lend itself to a very funny film, while also opening itself up to some deeper commentary, which is where we find a lot of what makes this particular film so compelling. It’s a familiar premise, but one that Clancy does stretch as far as possible, in pursuit of something much deeper. Ultimately, no family is perfect and anyone who subscribes to the idea that domestic life should look like those Norman Rockwell paintings that came to define placid suburban existence has been foolishly misled into believing something that is nothing more than a fallacy. I once saw a mortician explain that there is a very unexpected skill that comes with the job: being able to recognise which families are going to fall apart in the aftermath of a loved one’s death, since it is very clear whether a group of relatives, gathered together in mourning, are going to allow their differences to tear them apart at the seams. Eulogy investigates this idea from a very sardonic perspective, exploring a few days in the lives of a quartet of siblings and their families who are on the precipice of a collective breakdown, being driven to the point of sanity by not only the death of their father, but also the ensuing chaos that comes when this quaint suburban house is infiltrated by the most egotistical people imaginable, all of whom arrive with more than just physical baggage, prepared to become emotional bulldozers to whoever dares cross them at the wrong moment. It makes for a fascinating character study that not only explores grief, but makes some stark statements on family, identity and the feeling of being adrift in a world that no longer makes any sense, all filtered through a darkly comedic lens.

We find that the film works best when it allows itself to lean into the madness, which is where I find most of what makes Eulogy so effortlessly charming, but also quite challenging in an unexpected way. This is not going to be a film that will appeal to everyone, with a lot of what makes it so compelling for some being likely what drives others away. The foundation of this film is built from a sardonic exploration of familial dynamics. In the hands of another filmmaker, it would be a melodramatic jumble, and while much of this does make its way through the film, there are additional elements that the director brings that elevate it, albeit in a very different direction. It is tonally very scrambled – some elements are quite difficult to comprehend at first, such as the fact that it never quite settles on a particular perspective, at least in terms of the main quartet of siblings, who are intentionally positioned as supporting players, not because they lack importance (they are ultimately the focus), but rather to give them all a roughly equal share of attention, with the de facto protagonist being the well-meaning teenage daughter of one of them, who serves as the audience surrogate. It is through her eyes that we see the madness enveloping this family, which is drawn directly from the film’s overt dependence on the audience being able to leap onto the same wavelength, which is a bit of a gamble. Clancy also refuses to make the film too thorny, since that would cause the audience not to develop any real connection with these characters, which is obviously far from ideal. They’re difficult people, but not unlikable, and the film knows how to walk that very narrow tightrope between insufferable characters and those who are just extremely standoffish to the point of being overtly discomforting. It may not work for everyone, and its jagged edges may repel as many viewers as it attracts – but taken for what it is, Eulogy is an effective film and provides exactly what we would expect based on a cursory glance.

While it is undeniably slightly derivative in terms of plot and structure, Eulogy is salvaged by an eclectic cast, consisting of a wide range of actors who all put in solid, reliable work that may not reinvent the genre as a whole, but still provide consistent ideas that all ultimately go into the creation of a film that tends to be more conventional than some may be willing to acknowledge. It’s a true ensemble effort, with multiple actors being given the focus at different points in the story. The primary anchors of the film are Hank Azaria, Ray Romano and Debra Winger, who play the siblings at the heart of the story. They’re all playing in very familiar keys to what we would expect from them – Azaria is the well-meaning, congenial Daniel who just wants to make everyone happy, Romano the wise-cracking Skipper who hides everything behind a joke, and Winger the desperately high-strung Alice, who needs to always feel like she is in control. They may not bear much physical resemblance (in fact, no one in this family looks like each other, which is part of the charm), but there are shared qualities between them that easily underline just how extraordinary the material can be when put into the right hands, which is proven by these actors, all of whom are terrific. However, the main perspective is the character portrayed by Zooey Deschanel, who is not a particularly interesting actor or one that has shown much skill in stretching herself dramatically, since she tends to constantly play one-note, but she does have a relatively important role here, playing the part of the daughter tasked with bringing the family together through simply being the only sane one in the house, and it does work to the film’s benefit. Piper Laurie and Rip Torn are hilarious as the parents, but unfortunately don’t have enough to do on screen – but they make the most of every moment and prove to be the most consistent of them all.

There isn’t much more to Eulogy than what we see on the surface – a relatively simple, straightforward story of a family dealing with a loss that has impacted them in different ways, working to process these intense emotions through unearthing long-dormant frustrations, airing out their grievances and ultimately proving to be people damaged by the past, and where only through tackling their personal crises directly can they find a path towards healing. It sounds more heavy-handed than it is in practice, since this is a very funny film at the best of times – the creation of the most dysfunctional family that anyone can fathom is done exceptionally well, and the story’s ability to weave through their different perspectives allows a range of ideas to be discussed without exceeding the curt 89 minute running time, which is the perfect length for such a film, never overstaying its welcome but also having ample opportunity to explore its deeper themes. It may feel like an elongated episode of a sitcom (and to be fair, these characters are all interesting enough to make it seem like they could exist in something more expansive, like a television series – credit to Clancy for being able to convincingly develop them to seem familiar and compelling, even at their most unlikable), but there’s nuances here that take some time to notice, but which nonetheless emerge triumphantly, being a very funny glimpse into a family dealing with death, while also trying to tend to the wounds caused by their past. It’s a simple film, but one that does prove to be mostly very effective, especially in how it gradually and methodically develops a sense of humour about some very challenging subjects.