Aahana Swrup
‘Family Pack,’ a French adventure comedy film, follows an incredible transformational quest forced upon a family who couldn’t be less prepared for it. Jerome Vassier, his wife, Marie, and their three kids go on a vacation to visit the former’s father, Gilbert, an aging man with memory issues. As such, Jerome attempts to orchestrate a family-bonding moment around a childhood classic board game “Werewolves.” Expectedly, the attempt goes south soon—however, unexpectedly, unknown forces pull the family into the game, transporting them to the Miller’s Hollow of the Middle Ages. Thus, the out-of-place family has no choice but to participate in the town’s hunt for covert werewolves to finish the game and return to their normal lives. Naturally, the outlandish situation paves the way for a string of misfortunes for the Vassiers until the end. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Family Pack Plot Synopsis
Jerome Vassier is eager to sit around the living room with his family and indulge in an afternoon of board games. Nonetheless, between the gaps in his father’s memory, his busy wife, and his pre-occupied teenage daughter, Clara—the same cannot be said for his family. As a result, the game of Werewolves that the family begins gets shut down shortly after as everyone disperses their own way. However, as Jerome is boxing the game up, a sudden earthquake shakes the house, herding the family into the basement. Worse yet, once everyone gets out of the basement, they realize they have been transported to another land with an old-timey house replacing Gilbert’s place.
Before the Vassiers can contemplate the implications of the same, they realize Clara has mysteriously gone missing. As such, they travel out to the village to look for her—only to realize they have been fully sent back to the 1400s. Furthermore, they learn that the village—Miller’s Hollow—is being terrorized by a group of werewolves who lurk among the crowd in the daylight. Once back at the cottage, the family finds Clara, who has inexplicably turned invisible. As young Louise discovers the board game inside the cottage, Theo pitches the idea that they have been zapped into the board game. For the same reason, they have randomly taken on roles of the game players—with Gilbert as the strong Hunter and Clara, the Young “Invisible” Girl.
The same also explains Jerome’s mind-reading powers—which he keeps a secret from his family. Consequently, the next logical explanation emerges that the family must finish the game to return home. Even though Gilbert’s memory is back to normal—thanks to Hunter’s prowess—he still doesn’t know the game’s rules since it’s a family heirloom. Yet, he concludes that all the werewolves must be caught in order to complete the quest. As the night settles in, an even bigger surprise awaits the Vassiers, who realize that Louise is actually a werewolf.
The next morning brings much the same reality for the family, and they decide to get some answers by seeking out Jerome’s ancestor, Childéric, who happens to be in prison for suspicions of being a wizard. Nonetheless, although the excursion expands the family’s understanding of their powers, it brings no answers. Moreover, they also run into a neighbor, Piero, an inventor—who accidentally learns the truth about Vassiers’ predicament and ends up being surprisingly helpful. On their next outing into the town, the guards manage to kill an actual werewolf, earning the Vassiers a card, which can be fixed upon their board game. Additionally, Clara also gets a closer glimpse at two of the remaining wolves and deduces the characteristics they may carry in their human form.
As a result, the Vassiers come up with a plan to identify the werewolves while they are in their human forms the next morning to get one step closer to solving the game’s puzzle. Nonetheless, while Gilbert and Louise hit a home run, Marie ends up inviting trouble for herself. Being a woman used to the modern world, she’s unable to look the other way toward matters of domestic abuse, which paves the way for the townsfolk to learn that she can write. Hence, Marie is declared a witch and condemned to be burned at the stake the next day.
Family Pack Ending: What Are Marie’s Powers? Does She Have Any?
Throughout the story, the Vassier clan unearths special powers that come as a side effect of their transportation into the “Werewolves” game. Gilbert is the first one to discover his newfound strength as a Hunter, which also solves his memory loss issues. Next, Clara realizes she’s invisible shortly before Jerome happens upon his Seer’s abilities to read minds. Louise’s Werewolf transformation is a surprise and a tragedy at once, while Theo’s skills as the Thief, who can even steal people’s identities, become a handy tool. However, Marie is the only one without any visible powers, leading others to believe she simply doesn’t have any.
Once Marie’s abilities continue to stay hidden after her arrest and death sentence, it starts to seem like the woman is truly at the end of her demise. Nonetheless, Jerome and the others decide to band behind her and use their own abilities to save her life. On the morning of her and Childéric’s execution for being witches, Jerome creates a distraction with his musical skills. Meanwhile, Clara uses invisibility to free the two condemned, and Theo disguises himself as a soldier to help them escape from the village. Once they’re out of the proverbial woods, Piero gives the family directions to a church with a hidden tunnel inside.
However, the last standing werewolf attacks the Vassiers once they arrive at the church. Thus, they enter a fight for their lives against the monster. Gilbert, Theo, and Clara take the lead since the trio sport useful powers that can be used against their enemy. Still, they can barely put up much of a fight against it. Around the same time, the town Sherrif also arrives—only to reveal that he has been keeping the big werewolf safe all this time.
The Sherrif is actually Wolfskin, who distributed the wolf cards to the villagers’ home in the first place. However, he’s also Cupid, whose wife is the final werewolf. Therefore, since he can’t kill her without killing himself, he has been protecting her all this time. Thus, Jerome and Marie find themselves at the end of the line. However, unexpected help arrives as Louise’s tablet dies. Since she can no longer be distracted by her tablet, the girl turns into a werewolf. Although her instinct is to team with the bigger bear, her parents are able to talk her down, compelling the young were-cub to turn around and help them.
Yet, the same end up bringing even more trouble as Louise goes up against the big werewolf on her own. Despite putting up a fight, Louise loses as she’s flung towards a stone wall. As her kid fights for her life, Marie’s powers finally manifest. As the woman levitates into the air, power cackling around her, there’s no denying it: Marie is the witch. As such, with astronomical powers in her hands, she destroys the bigger werewolf—saving her family’s life.
Is Louise Dead or Alive?
When the Vassiers are running from the townsfolk after orchestrating Marie and Childéric’s great escape, they have accepted the fact that they will likely be stuck in the Middle Ages for the foreseeable future. So far, they have concluded that the only way to return home is to collect all the werewolf cards and fit them into the board game. However, the cards only manifest after a werewolf is dead. Since Louise is the fourth werewolf, the Vassiers know there’s no way they can actually get their hands on all four of the cards.
For the same reason, when the Vassiers seek an exit through the Church tunnel, they plan never to return to the Miller’s Hollow and start their lives anew. However, things take a turn when the final bear attacks them at the remote ruins. After the werewolf flings Louise to the wall, the girl fails to survive the attack and reverts to her human form. The Werewolf card appearing in her hands confirms that Louise is dead. In turn, Marie reveals her hidden abilities as a witch and lays ruin to the werewolf that killed her daughter.
However, instead of killing the werewolf entirely, Marie preserves her life force and transfers it to Louise. Consequently, the werewolf dies, while Louise’s body receives the jumpstart it needs to resurrect. Therefore, in the end, Louise’s momentary death grants her access to her werewolf card while her mother’s powers bring her back to life.
Do They Return Home? Did The Vassiers Time Travel Into The Past?
After Marie inadvertently unearths her powers and destroys the last werewolf, the Vassiers finally have the final pieces they need to complete the game. As such, they return to Childéric’s cottage to collect the game board and return to their regular lives. Once all the werewolf and player pieces are in the box, the Vassier family is returned to their rightful time. Although this brings the story to an end, the events may have left viewers with one last question about the nature of the family’s adventure in Miller’s Hollow. Did the Vassiers get immersed in the Werewolf game, or did they actually travel back in time to the Middle Ages?
The answer lies in one of the subplots that follows the Vassiers while they’re in Miller’s Hollow. During their time in the village, Jerome and the others run into Piero, an eclectic queer man who has a difficult time fitting into the town due to his sexuality. The man ends up becoming an excellent quest companion as he concocts rubber masks for Clara and electric speakers for Jerome. Nevertheless, it isn’t until the end that his real identity emerges. Right before Jerome leaves, Piero reveals that the other man has inspired him to return to Florence and take up painting again.
As such, Piero shares his full name, revealing his identity as Leonardo da Vinci. In response, Jerome advises Childéric to buy everything the man paints. Once the Vassiers return to their own time, they visit the Louvre, where one of Piero’s paintings hangs as a donation from the Vassier family. The painting is the Mona Lisa. However, it’s notably different than the classic paintings and sports, which have an eerie resemblance to Jerome. Thus, Jerome’s presence in the Middle Ages ends up changing the future—even if only in minuscule ways. Previously, Leonardo da Vinci would have been inspired to create his masterpiece through some other muse. Nonetheless, after Piero’s interactions with Jerome left the man smitten, he decided to create the Mona Lisa in Jerome’s image, rewriting a small part of history.
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