The Price of Family is a family comedy about two elderly parents who deeply miss their children and come up with a lie to get them to visit more often. The film is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Carlo and Anna are bidding farewell to their son and daughter, Emilio and Alessandra, as the children pack up all their stuff and get ready to move to the city. Anna is sad to see them go and pleads with them to visit as often as they can.
15 months later and Emilio and Alessandra have barely visited, much to Anna’s annoyance. Carlo tries to comfort his wife while also making excuses for his children but he knows that it is pointless.
Anna is expecting Alessandra to visit for her birthday and prepares an entire meal and cake for her daughter but both children do not show up and Anna is especially disappointed.
When they head to the city to have a drink with Emilio, they stop by Alessandra’s apartment. They see her standing outside but when they call her on the phone, they notice her reluctantly pick it up before informing them that she won’t be spending Christmas with them.
With this heartbreaking news, they head to the bar and meet Emilio and also run into his boss who is constantly demeaning Emilio. Emilio says that he won’t be around for Christmas either because he’s accepted an invitation to go elsewhere.
Anna is deeply hurt by the fact that both her children will not be home for Christmas and Carlo does his best to console her. For the next couple of weeks, Alessandra and Emilio do not hear a peep from their parents and begin to get worried.
They call up their grandma who tells them that Anna and Carlo received a huge sum of money from their recently deceased Aunt Tea which must be keeping them busy.
Alessandra and Emilio pay a visit to their parents soon after and as they’re leaving following a nice dinner, their parents tell them that they received a total sum of 6 million from Aunt Tea. This excites the children but they attempt not to show it.
Long after they have left, Anna and Carlo reveal that the inheritance is all a lie but their presumption that their children would come back if money was involved is proven true. Carlo says he knows how to appear rich so that they can maintain the facade till Christmas.
Alessandra and Emilio are celebrating money that isn’t even in their hands yet while Carlo and Anna go shopping at fleamarkets to get the best knockoffs they can find. Carlo even rents a Ferrari till Christmas from a local impound.
They constantly flaunt their supposed wealth in front of their children but never make any assertions that they will be giving them a share, much to Alessandra and Emilio’s concern. Meanwhile, word of this supposed inheritance spreads like wildfire, causing more problems.
The Price of Family ending explained:
What happens with Emilio?
Emilio’s boss hears about the recent influx of cash in his family and offers to make him a partner as long as he can make a significant donation as an investment.
He invites Carlo to a round of golf and makes his pitch and Carlo says he will consider the offer. Later on, when Carlo tries to tell Emilio the truth, he sees him getting insulted by his boss once more and decides to hold off on the truth.
Instead, he promises Emilio 200,000 for the donation so that he can become a partner in the company and enjoy a better position.
What about Alessandra?
Alessandra is so happy when she finds out that she might be getting a ton of money and believes it would help her finally achieve her dreams. When she reacts poorly the first time that Carlo and Anna reveal they will not be sharing the money, it ruins her relationship with her boyfriend, Rocco.
Anna visits Alessandra to tell her the truth but when she finds out the situation her daughter is in, she decides to not pile on and ends up inviting her to stay at home with them.
Alessandra eventually moves into a suite at a fancy hotel and tells her parents that she would like to open up a tea salon and needs them to fund her seed money to get started.
Do Carlo and Anna tell their children the truth?
With the lies getting too much for them, Carlo and Anna invite their children home so that they can come clean but Anna panics and tells them that Carlo is terminally ill and they need to save the money for his medical expenses.
They tell them that they will be traveling to doctors all around the world for consultations and will be back in time for Christmas so that they can celebrate it together like a family.
Rocco and Alessandra decide to video call Carlo and Anna who are supposed to be in Paris at the time and they find them standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
She tells them that Emilio got fired from his job and so they ask her to add him to the call so that they can comfort him. When he answers, he tells them that he’s gone home to pick up a few shirts and Emilio finds his parents standing in the kitchen in front of a sheet with the Eiffel Tower on it.
With no other choice, they finally reveal the truth to their children who are let down by their parents’ actions.
What happens on Christmas Eve?
Anna spends Christmas Eve taking down all the decorations around their house since there’s no point in keeping them up. Carlo tries to cheer her up but he has no luck.
Alessandra and Emilio are eating with their grandmother at a restaurant. She tells them that while their parents’ actions were despicable, the two of them were partly to blame for ignoring them so much.
Emilio and Alessandra feel bad and decide to surprise their parents by visiting them and spending Christmas together as a family.
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