Misaligned home decor, shared bedrooms divided by tape, or half-unpacked boxes serve as visual metaphors for households in transition.

One of the most refreshing trends in modern cinema is the depiction of the exes. Gone are the days where the ex-husband or ex-wife is simply written out of the story. Modern films acknowledge that when you blend a family, you also blend ex-partners.

Similarly, Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) dissects the long-term psychological fallout of a multi-generational blended family. The film examines how the adult children of a fiercely narcissistic, multi-divorced artist navigate their relationships with each other and their various stepmothers. Baumbach illustrates that the dynamics of a blended family do not end when the children grow up; the rivalries, blurred boundaries, and shifting loyalties persist well into adulthood. 3. The Deconstruction of the "Step-" Label