Family Business – Netflix Season 1 Review

Episode Guide

Business Plan – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Deal – | Review Score – 4/5
Hog Wild – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Running to Seed – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Pastraweed – | Review Score – 3.5/5
End Of The Line – | Review Score – 4/5

French comedies can always be a little hit or miss but when it comes to Family Business, this one is certainly more hit than miss. With a quirky humour, some genuinely funny jokes and a group of charismatic characters at its core, Family Business is a surprisingly heartwarming and well written comedy.

At the heart of it, the story revolves around a family-run Butcher’s going through the motions, with piling debts and repossession looming in the not-so-distant future. Determined not to follow in his Father’s footsteps, entrepreneur Joseph has a dream of launching his own tunnel noise app; a way of getting out of awkward conversations. Predictably, things don’t go to plan but he later has a spark of genius when his Dad promises to hand the reigns of the Butcher’s over to him. With marijuana legalization on the horizon and determined to make the most of this, Joseph decides to turn the Butcher’s into a marijuana store and start selling weed instead.

From here, the rest of the episodes see the different family members slowly come round to the idea, including an impromptu trip to Amsterdam to try the latest weed. Each episode leads into the next nicely, with the finale seeing the family in over their heads and coming face to face with a dangerous criminal who wants their lucrative stash of weed. It’s worth noting that the finale does leave things wide open for a second season too but given the relative ease you’ll get through this one, there’s enough here to certainly warrant this one being renewed.

There’s some good character drama here too, with Joseph’s relationship woes casting doubt over his ambitions while his continued, strained relationship with his Father overshadows a lot of what’s going on here. Despite the abundance of silly, slapstick humour and clever wordplay, Family Business has some surprisingly poignant themes, with family grief, acceptance and moving on forming the crux of this. This ultimately forms the anchor to which the rest of the series plays off and for the most part, Family Business does well to keep things lighthearted whilst peppering enough drama to keep this from falling into satirical waters.

It won’t be for everyone, and some of the humour may be a tad too slapstick or even border on crude at times, but if you can take to the style of this one Family Business is well worth checking out and one of the better foreign comedy offerings on Netflix.

Click Here To Go Back To Our TV Show Reviews