Apples Never Fall

Christmas is a disaster for the Delaneys despite Joy’s dogged efforts to bring the family together. As the champagne pours freely, the siblings reflect on their collapsed relationships and how much they miss their partners not being there.

Struggling for conversation topics, the kids comment on the large, ugly purple rug in the living room that, despite Joy’s vocal dislike of it, remains. Stan, meanwhile, is in his den poring over a review copy the legal department’s editors sent over of Harry Haddad’s memoirs to help fact check. Joy tries valiantly to prepare a family dinner only to trigger the smoke detectors when she burns a butter and brown sugar glaze. In a tense confrontation with Stan, who comes in and glibly offers to help Joy with lunch, Joy—without warning or apology—suddenly throws two expensive china cat statues, which belonged to Stan’s mother, against the wall. The rest of the day is a slow-motion catastrophe. The meal is late, and the conversation is strained.

The siblings elect to distance themselves from their parents for most of January. On Valentine’s Day morning, Joy, ever resilient and determined to win back her family, wakes up ready to surprise Stan with an apple crumble, his favorite dessert: “She was a fighter.