Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free
Sibling squabbles may not be fun in real life, but it's fascinating to watch them play out onscreen. The jealousy, competition and fighting between brothers and sisters can provide some of the fiercest and most psychologically complex tension in cinema.
Little Women is the latest film to capture siblings at war. Greta Gerwig ’s Oscar-nominated tribute to Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel is a riveting drama about sisterhood, driven by the resentment between Jo and Amy, whose rivalry is egged on by their aunt March.
Elsewhere, you can witness simmering feuds between brothers Michael (Al Pacino), Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazele) in The Godfather , and the childish antics of middle-aged men Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C Reilly) in the comedy Step Brothers.
These infamous spats can leave fictional siblings licking their wounds for a long time. Sometimes it brings them closer in the end, but not always. Indeed, having a sibling with a grudge can be a real nightmare – as character Laurie discovers in the slasher film Halloween after learning she has a long-lost brother.
Although any sibling rivalry is stressful, watching these films might just make you feel happier about the way your own family behaves.
Click through our list of the top 21 sibling rivalries in film:
The top 21 sibling rivalries in filmShow all 21 1 /21The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Little Women (2019) Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women is based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel. The film follows the March sisters – Amy (Florence Pugh), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen) and Meg (Emma Watson) – as they navigate their young adulthood in the aftermath of the Civil War. The sibling rivalry hits an explosive moment when Amy, who is angry that her elder sister Jo wouldn’t take her to the theatre, burns Jo’s manuscript in a fit of rage.
Rex Features/Sony Pictures Releasing
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) The well-publicised onscreen rivalry between the film’s two Hollywood stars – Bette Davis and Joan Crawford – made this psychological horror all the more tantalising. Baby Jane Hudson (Davis) is a former child star who feels overshadowed by her more talented movie star sister, Blanche (Crawford). But after a mysterious accident, Baby Jane holds her now-wheelchair-bound sister captive in an old Hollywood mansion.
Warner Bros
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The King's Speech (2010) In his role as the stammering George VI, Colin Firth gives a superb portrayal of a future king who holds deep resentment for his brother, Edward VIII, over his abdication from the throne.
Momentum Pictures
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Fighting with my Family (2019) Watching your sister live your dream can be hard. When professional wrestler Saraya, aka Paige (Florence Pugh) gets signed by the WWE, but her older brother Zak (Jack Lowden) doesn’t, tension brews. At first, Zak tries to hide his resentment, but his anger and jealousy get the better of him when his sister tells him she plans to quit the WWE.
Lionsgate UK
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Rachel Getting Married (2008) Who can forget Anne Hathaway as Kym making a wedding speech/ apology for her past actions? Fresh out of rehab to attend the ceremony, the bride (Rosemarie DeWitt) is already concerned her sister will upstage her, but this speech is the final straw.
Sony Pictures Classics
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film In Her Shoes (2005) A comedy-drama that focuses on two sisters whose only thing in common is their shoe size. The free-spirited Maggie (Cameron Diaz) can’t hold down a job, while her plain sister Rose (Toni Collette) is a serious lawyer. They've always had a tricky relationship, but a particular low point comes when Rose catches Maggie in bed with her boyfriend...
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The Lion King (2019) This Disney classic depicts the murderous rivalry between noble King Mufasa and his sly brother, Scar. The film was heavily inspired by Shakespeare's play Hamlet, in which the prince's uncle Claudius conspires to take the throne from his brother.
Walt Disney Pictures
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Margot at the Wedding (2007) Noah Baumbach’s film stars Nicole Kidman as Margot, the type of sister you hope you don't have: unhinged, unpleasant and untrustworthy. Margot visits her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) on the eve of her wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black), who Margot disapproves of. It doesn’t take long for years of resentment to be unleashed between the two siblings, who clash in a heated argument.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) The sibling rivalry in Wes Anderson’s comedy-drama about the dysfunctional Tenenbaum family isn’t obvious at first, but it’s hard to avoid. The pressure for three siblings Chas (Ben Stiller), Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Richie (Luke Wilson), who grew-up as child prodigies, takes its toll. They feel isolated from one another after competing for their parents’ attention and face failure in their adult lives. Ultimately, the siblings bond again when they return to the family nest. They forgive their father, who left them in their adolescent years.
Buena Vista Pictures
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Ferris Bueler's Day Off (1986) Jeannie Bueller (Jennifer Grey) is jealous of her brother Ferris (Matthew Broderick) for skipping school and always getting away with it. But she eventually realises she needs to look at herself and stop fixating on her brother, after she kisses a drug addict (Charlie Sheen) in a police station.
Paramount Pictures
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Hannah and her Sisters (1986 ) Woody Allen’s film about Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her sisters Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest) is a tangled web of dysfunctional family dynamics. Not only is Lee having an affair with Hannah’s husband Elliott (Michael Caine), but Holly – who resents borrowing money from Hannah – is also writing a script inspired by highly personal details of her marriage to Elliot... which greatly upsets Hannah. Holly ends up marrying Hannah’s ex Mickey (Allen).
Moviestore/Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) Anne Boleyn, played by Natalie Portman, sets her sights on becoming the consort and future wife of King Henry VIII, only for him to become enthralled by Mary, her married younger sister (Scarlett Johansson).
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Rocco and His Brothers (1960) Luchino Visconti’s film follows four brothers who move with their widowed mother to Milan to join their eldest brother. One brother, Simone (Renato Salvatori), begins an affair with Nadia (Annie Girardot), a prostitute. When his brother, Rocco (Alain Delon), also starts a relationship with her, things turn predictably violent.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film The Godfather (1974) Each of the three brothers, Michael (Al Pacino), Fredo (John Cazale) and Sonny (James Caan) feels that he should have been appointed head of the family business after the death of their father, Vito Corleone.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Step Brothers (2008) Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C Reilly) are middle-aged losers living at home like teenagers. When Brennan's mother becomes engaged to Dale's father, they are forced to become roommates, with increasingly violent (and hilarious) results.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Halloween (1978) This slasher horror follows the grisly tale of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), who was put up for adoption after both her parents were killed. She only finds out about her brother Michael Myers (Nick Castle) as a teenager, but will she regret inviting him in to her life?
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Bergundy (2004) A deleted scene from the film reveals that Ron Bergundy (Will Ferrell) and Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn) are half-brothers, perhaps explaining their fierce on and off-screen battles. The insults fly thick and thin, but towards the end of the film, Wes apologises to Ron and helps him up a ladder to escape an enclosure full of hungry bears.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film East of Eden (1955) James Dean, in his first big screen role, plays the moody Cal, who is bitter that his father only loves Aron (Richard Davalos), the brother who can do no wrong, in this adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel. It’s when they come to blows over Julie Harris’s Abra, who is torn between the two brothers, that things get really nasty.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Adaptation (2002) Nicolas Cage plays twin brothers Charlie and Donald Kaufman in this Spike Jonze film. When Charlie, a neurotic screenwriter, gets writers block while adapting a novel called The Orchid Thief, he is astonished when his brother, Donald, achieves overnight success with the script for a clichéd thriller. He gets a handle on his professional jealousy and the pair overcome their differences when the pair escape a homicidal author in a Florida swamp.
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film Brothers (2009) In this fascinating and moving portrayal of what happens when roles are reversed, Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) returns alive from Afghanistan after being presumed dead. Suffering from PTSD, he begins to suspect his ex-con brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is having an affair with his wife Grace (Natalie Portman).
Rex
The top 21 sibling rivalries in film American Sweethearts (2001) A Hollywood farce that ratchets up the competition between two sisters with very different personalities. Kiki (Julia Roberts), is the personal assistant to her movie star sister, Gwen (Catherine Zeta Jones). Unfortunately, she falls in love with Gwen’s estranged husband Eddie (John Cusack) when she helps the couple deal with one last public engagement before their divorce. Kiki eventually stands up to her sister for the first time in her life.
Getty
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies