This Will Never Work

May 30, 2025

1h 32m

★ 10.0

The family has decided there's a problem. That problem is you.

Overview

THIS WILL NEVER WORK is about a Black family coming together to have an intervention for Amanda's drinking problem. They've hired a therapist named Trevor (a white man, not that it matters), written emotional letters, and now they sit and wait for Amanda to arrive. But when she does, Trevor realizes that the family hasn't exactly been honest with him. "I think I should leave," he says. But listening isn't this family's strong suit, and they've already prepared for battle. The intervention turns into a whodunnit of all the family's drama and trauma. As we flash back and forth from contested family memories to the claustrophobic intervention room, we'll piece together the mysteries that haunt this family.

Genres

Comedy

This Will Never Work Trailers

Cast

Uncle Pete

Ron Canada

Rachel

Sarah Stiles

Trevor

Peter Grosz

Bill

Jerimiyah Dunbar

Majd

Usama Siddiquee

Julia

Marinda Anderson

Linda

Portia

Bill Bagglio

Jeff Solomon

Amanda

Amandla Jahava

Young Linda

Kayce Wilson

Armand

Temesgen Tocruray

Shirley is a woman who wants to be in control of everything. Working as a librarian in a public school, a firm "Sshhh!" from her makes the students tremble in fear. But in her family, her unwarranted intervention in the lives of her children and their families keeps her emotionally detached from them. Realizing that she has lost the command she once had, she goes to New York to reunite with Mark, her estranged gay son who is now suffering from colon cancer. But Shirley doesn't know this, and living with Mark in New York comes with a cost. She has to live with her son's lover, Noel, who is an illegal immigrant. Everything is going right until circumstances force Shirley to go back to the Philippines. Now that she's back with her family, she realizes that something is wrong: she is not happy.

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