A Family Affair is the latest Netflix original movie for 2024. Starring A-listers Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman and Netflix rom-com vet Joey King, this is the film for you if you're looking for a fun watch full of forbidden love, romance and comedy one-liners.
As with most movies from the rom-com genre, there aren't many major plot twists in this film. However, with the story following widowed mum, Brooke Harwood (Kidman) who falls in love with global movie star Chris Cole (Efron) - who also just happens to be her daughter's unbearable boss - most viewers will want to know if the will they/won't they romance works out.
So do Brooke and Chris get their happy ever after? Read on to find out what happens at the end of A Family Affair on Netflix...
As soon as the movie opens we discover that Chris Cole is made of classic movie star material... he is mega-rich, mega-handsome... and also mega self-centered. His long-suffering assistant, Zara, spends her time running errands for him, most of which seem to involve retrieving his belongings from the home of the latest girl he has dumped.
But soon we discover that there is more to Chris than meets the eye, while on the outside he might have the movie star persona down to a fine art, he is also alone, has no real friends in the world, and is crippled with self-doubt. Zara on the other hand is smart and switched on, hating that her life revolves around collecting someone else's dry cleaning.
Soon we meet Zara's mother, Brooke, who lost her husband Charlie (who was also Zara's father) more than a decade ago and has been single ever since, focusing on raising Zara and writing her books.
Brooke is a hugely successful author, which puts pressure on Zara to do something with her career, and when Chris pushes Zara too far, she quits her job on the spot and dreads going home to tell her mum the news.
However, Chris can barely function without Zara doing all his errands for him and he goes to see her the next day to beg her to take her job back, even intending to promote her to Associate Producer on his new movie, something he has been promising for ages.
However, Zara isn't home when he arrives, so being a movie star he just lets himself in. Brooke is cleaning her office and is stunned to find a hot celebrity standing in her house, but soon the pair hit it off over tequila, sparks fly and they open up to one another about their pasts, family and fears... and before they know it, one thing leads to another and they're sleeping together.
But, of course, this is a rom-com and things never run smoothly, so Zara gets home while they are in Brooke's bedroom, walks in on them together and manages to knock herself out on the doorframe as she tries to make a hasty getaway! The pair panic that she is hurt and they end up going to the doctor, where Zara is mortified about what has happened, while Brooke tries to explain.
Once Zara has been given the medical all-clear, they head home and Brooke promises that her time with Chris was a one-time-only thing, so when Chris offers her job back with a promotion, Zara accepts - although she first checks the promotion wasn't just because he is falling for her mum!
However, this wouldn't be a rom-com without some forbidden romance so it's no surprise that Brooke and Chris meet up in secret, sharing fancy dinners and romantic nights on film sets, all behind Zara's back. Understandably, Zara isn't happy when she finds out, and it is up to her grandmother, Leila, to convince her to give Chris a chance. But Zara doesn't have much choice because Chris arrives at their remote cabin for Christmas and they're soon all playing happy families.
But just as Chris lets his guard down, enjoying being part of a family for once, Zara finds earrings in his overnight bag while she is packing up the car to go home - the same earrings he always uses to break up with someone.
When they get home she lays into Chris, telling her mum what the earrings symbolize and lists all of Chris's bad qualities without letting him explain, before Brooke, who is totally brokenhearted, throws him out of the house.
As Zara continues to work with Chris (awkward!) she can see he is heartbroken, too, and when she lets slip that Brooke is moving to Princetown to teach for the spring semester, he is resigned to the fact that it's over for good.
But Zara knows that both Brooke and Chris are miserable and comes up with a plan to reunite them.
Taking Chris to a food store (because he commented earlier in the movie that the thing he misses most about being famous is not being able to do his own food shopping) and he is confused when people don't seem to recognize him.
He loves seeing all the new food you can get and is in his element looking at the cereal aisle. Meanwhile, Zara's grandma, Leila, has brought Brooke to the store claiming she needs fruit for her dementia, and soon the former couple bump into one another.
Zara apologizes for meddling in their relationship and they both also say sorry and the air is cleared... soon they kiss and Zara leaves them to it.
As she leaves the store, Zara is in full director mode, and it becomes clear that she has orchestrated the whole thing and that the shoppers in the store are all extras. As Zara walks out of the store, she meets Leila in the car and they high-five each other.
The closing scene sees the movie flash forward one year, where Brooke has published another book and is at the height of her career once again.
Zara is now a hotshot in the movie world and asks her own assistant to make her a coffee. She and Chris are on good terms and he asks her what time he is needed on set for that evening's night shoot.
Zara jokes that he's never going to be able to stay away all night, and he jokes back "that's not what your mum says" which reveals he is still very much together with Brooke. However, Zara cringes at the comment, suggesting she still doesn't entirely enjoy talking about her mother's love life.
But, things are good and as Chris walks out of Zara's office she says 'love you' in a family way and it's a happy ending as the credits roll.
A Family Affair is available to watch worldwide on Netflix now.
