Awkward family movies tend to perpetuate the truth in old sayings like, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family." Whether you come from a blended family, a family with sibling rivalries, or just a collection of ill-fitting goofballs, we can all relate in some way to a certain level of awkwardness in our families. But some movie families really ooze a kind of uneasiness that make them particular strange or different. Here is a list of movie families that kind of leave you scratching your head.

The Royal Tenenbaums (1997)

Wes Anderson was just starting to settle into his niche of the artfully absurd when he helmed The Royal Tenenbaums in 1997. With a who's who of late 90s actors like Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson, the film depicts a dysfunctional family of wunderkinds and geniuses, who for some reason end up falling short of expectations and blame their philandering father Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his estrangement for their inability to transition from the outskirts of the socially acceptable crowd. Bill Murray is his usual brilliant self as Raleigh St. Clair, a meek and unassuming husband to the family matriarch, Margot Tenenbaum (Angelica Huston).

RELATED: 9 Most Dysfunctional TV Families That Make Our Family Feel Normal

Ordinary People (1980)

Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People
Image via Paramount Pictures

The decade of the 80s was rung in with this exceptional Oscar winning film about a dysfunctional and grief addled family that struggles to find a new normal after the death of their oldest son. The film won four Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Director (Robert Redford), Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for Best Actress leaving us to wonder why Donald Sutherland was left out in the cold by the Academy. The underlying tension exuded by the Jarrett family is palpable in this extraordinary film about resentment and regret.

The Ice Storm (1997)

the ice storm elijah wood mikey carver ang lee
Image via 20th Century Studios

It's 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut, and the outwardly normal and wholesome Hood family's facade is beginning to rust behind closed doors over the Thanksgiving holiday. When boozy father Ben (Kevin Kline) begins to cheat on his unhappy wife (Joan Allen) with sultry neighbor, Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver), fourteen-year-old daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) sees it as an invitation to dabble in some promiscuity of her own as she takes to the neighborhood exploring her sexuality with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood). It all makes for an awkward and unhealthy atmosphere that will prove to be unsustainable.

Meet the Parents (2000)

Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller) is in way over his head when a weekend trip to meet the parents of the girl he plans to ask to marry turns into a prolonged and unmitigated disaster. Robert DeNiro stars as Jack Byrnes, a former CIA operative and father of Gaylord's girlfriend Pamela (Teri Polo). To say Jack is a little over-protective would be an understatement as he puts Gaylord through the ringer to see if he can hold up and earn his way into the "circle of trust" in order to merit taking care of his precious daughter. Meanwhile, Jack's beloved but mischievous cat, Jinx, is proving to be another foil that Gaylord must deal with. Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson buttress the cast with outstanding supporting roles.

American Beauty (1999)

Mena Suvari in 'American Beauty'
Image via DreamWorks SKG

Middle-aged Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is unfulfilled at work, and begins to look for ways to spice things up in this outstanding film that took home Oscars for Best Film, Screenplay, Director (Sam Mendes) and Lead Actor (Spacey). As a result, he finds himself developing an unhealthy infatuation for a friend (Mena Suvari) of his teenage daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Next door, a quiet and mercurial voyeur (Wes Bentley) must also deal with his overbearing father (Chris Cooper) who is struggling with his own sexual identity. You can cut the awkward tension with a knife in this maelstrom of dysfunction that is driven by two men embroiled in a midlife crisis.

Festen (The Celebration) (1998)

Festen-Thomas-Vinterberg-1998

An unusually dark comedy, Festen is the story of a Danish family that comes together to celebrate the 60th birthday of patriarch Helge (Henning Moritzen), who is an upstanding citizen and businessman whose family runs a local hotel. The dysfunction within this clan is off the charts. Son Michael (Thomas Bo Larson) is a dyspeptic wife-abuser who is constantly at odds with the rest of the family while another son, Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) subtly hints at sexual abuse by his father while delivering a passive-aggressive toast during inner. The whole family is also trying to absorb the recent suicide of daughter, Linda, whose suicide note is found and hidden by the mother, Else (Birthe Neumann) because of it's disturbing revelations.

National Lampoon's Vacation (All of Them)

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Image via Warner Bros.

Children of the 80s went on several awkward vacations with the Griswold family from Chicago, Illinois, Whether it was to Walley World, to Europe or hosting the extended family at home for Christmas, we could always count on Clark (Chevy Chase) as the cock-eyed optimist whose enthusiasm is only exceeded by his own clumsiness and futility. Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) is the ultimate uncouth wildcard whose lack of self-awareness and inability to read the room makes for some hilarious, if not cringe worthy moments throughout. Clark's wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) is the only thing that keeps this collection of ill-fitting goofballs from spontaneously combusting from all the awkwardness.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

The family sitting down and looking tired in Little Miss Sunshine
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

An unexpected hit, Little Miss Sunshine and the Hoover family took audiences by storm in 2006. When a family full of misfits decides to load up the VW van and head out to California in support of little Olive (Abigail Breslin) and her bid to win the crown of Little Miss Sunshine, we start to see the quirky manifestations of the grandpa Edwin (Alan Arkin), sullen, depressed teenaged son, Dwayne (Paul Dano) and the intrepid, but failure of a businessman in father Richard (Greg Kinnear) come to the surface. Steve Carrell shines as the suicidal Uncle Frank, who struggles to find purpose along the way.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Ian and Tula smiling and posing for a photo in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Image via Gold Circle Films

No list of awkward family films would be complete without a gathering for the purposes of a holy matrimony. My Big Fat Greek Family Wedding is that entry on our list and tells the story of 30 year-old unmarried Toula (Nia Vardalos) who's starting to feel the pressure of not having tied the knot from her parents Maria (Lanie Kazan) and Gus (Michael Constantine). When she finally finds "Mr. Right", Ian (John Corbett) while working at a travel agency, the awkwardness meter gets turned way up as he is not Greek and isn't familiar with the Portokalos's family traditions that are deeply steeped in their heritage.

Death at a Funeral (2007)

Frank Oz's black comedy surrounding a dysfunctional British family's gathering for the funeral of a family patriarch rounds out our list and stars Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, and Peter Dinklage. This family is crawling with tension and unwieldy relationships that come to the forefront when they are forced to reconnect and interact with one another over some very morbid circumstances. Funerals rarely bring out the best in us, and it is no different for these grieving siblings, one of which is contemplating airing some of the family's dirty little secrets.