Let’s face it, dysfunctional family comedies are popular simply because we can usually see a little bit of our own lives in them. Unfortunately some of them stretch their characters to far extremes, creating an absurd mess that hardly captures reality. While in some cases these films manage to touch our hearts by giving us a blend of hilarity and heartache. In other cases, such as in Hailey Rose, they are too far out there to even be entertaining.

Hailey Rose follows the story of  sisters Hailey (Em Haine) and Rose (Caitlynne Medrek), and their overbearing mother Olga (Kari Matchett).  While she was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Hailey ran away to Calgary after the death of her father. Not only did she blame herself for her father’s death, but the rest of her family did too. Ten years later Hailey receives a call from her sister, telling her that their mother had passed away and that she was needed home.

It’s hard to like any of the characters in Hailey Rose. Hailey is your typical slacker who is heading quickly down the road to nowhere. Rose is quirky, annoyingly so, and her stupidity is even worse. Olga on the other hand is mean spirited and doesn’t come off as motherly in the least. If this film tried to play itself as a straight up comedy these personalities might have worked, but when the drama is played for tears instead of laughs it just becomes too much. It causes a lot more groans than anything else, which is never a good sign for a film.

Hailey Rose needed to pick a lane and stick with it. As it is, it’s too all over the place and difficult to watch. There are much better ways to spend your time.