Based on the 1976 novel of the same name, Ordinary People is an emotionally wrought film about a family on the brink of collapse. Upon the tragic death of eldest son Buck, the youngest and now only son Conrad (Hutton) reluctantly enters psychiatric care while his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), tries to force things back to the way they were with overwhelming positivity. Keeping things together as best he can is the father Calvin (Donald Sutherland), who is battling demons of his own. Before films like Good Will Hunting and shows like 13 Reasons Why made tropes like “caring therapist” and “angsty teen” into the cliches they are now, it was films like Ordinary People that broke barriers and dared to put up a mirror to our stark realities. Things like grief and depression, as well as strained parenthood and unhappy families, were taboo back day in the day, so it was somewhat of a miracle that Ordinary People didn’t just talk about them openly, but started a discourse surrounding them that continues to this day.

Mary Tyler Moore. Moore gave her character new depths with the simplest gestures. What was simply described as “unpredictable” in the book, Moore turned into nuanced and meaningful acts.