‘Good American Family’ Review: There’s Two Sides to Every Story

Hulu has a pretty solid track record when it comes to original series, whether it’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Only Murders in the Building, this year’s hit Paradise, or award-winning prestige series like The Bear or Shōgun. The streaming service looks to add another win to that column of successes with Good American Family.

The series is based on the real-life adoption of Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) by Kristine (Ellen Pompeo) and Michael Barnett (Mark Duplass). Good American Family shows the events of this very complicated relationship through the different perspectives of the people involved, giving the audience quite a lot to think about as the events of the series transpire.

‘Good American Family’ Asks the Question: What’s My Age Again?

Natalia’s adoption comes as a blessing out of nowhere to the Barnetts, as Michael is still reeling from an adoption that didn’t pan out recently. Kristine is in the middle of setting up a community center for autistic and special-needs children after she discovers her son, Jake (Aias Dalman), has autism and helps unlock his true potential as a child prodigy. Kristine feels that the urgency of Natalia needing a family is a sign from God that not only do they need to help this little girl, but that the child can help strengthen their marriage and family as a whole.

The real crux of Good American Family is the questionability of Natalia’s true age. Natalia has a rare form of dwarfism, which, partnered with her strange medical and government-issued documents from a sketchy adoption agency, makes it hard to pinpoint if she is actually seven years old. As Natalia integrates with the Bennett family, including their three sons, the couple discovers that Natalia has pubic hair, as well as adult teeth, leading them to believe that Natalia is an adult posing as a child.

Everything We See in ‘Good American Family’ Is Perspective, Not the Truth

The “discovery” of Natalia possibly not being a child thrusts the series into a whirlwind of unexpected events that eventually culminate in seeing Natalia’s side of the story. This is where everything changes. The biggest lesson Good American Family teaches is that you can always be the villain in someone else’s story, and until you truly put yourself in the other person’s shoes, the truth will never reveal itself.

There’s not much to nitpick within the series, other than sometimes Duplass’ performance can come off a bit cartoony and overdramatic; however as the dramatic tension heightens within the story itself, he delivers along with Pompeo and Reid. It cannot be understated how versatile and incredible Reid is as Natalia Grace in Good American Family. The only other fault about the series is it simply doesn’t reach the level of other prestige television out there at the moment. But, when the bar is generational TV shows like Severance and Invincible, you can’t expect every series to soar that high.

Good American Family is a compelling limited series that plays with time and perspective in a way that cleverly enhances the narrative as the series plays out. The drama is anchored by an incredible performance from Imogen Faith Reid, who goes from maniacally creepy to tragic and emphatic depending on the perspective lens of the series at the time. At the end of the day, the truth of Good American Family will leave viewers shocked that something like this happened in real life.

The first two episodes of Good American Family are available to stream on Hulu. New episodes premiere every Wednesday. Follow Agents of Fandom on socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.