# Sisters (2015 film)
**Sisters** is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Jason Moore and written by [Paula Pell](https://www.edgepedia.org/paula-pell), starring [Tina Fey](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-fey) and [Amy Poehler](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-poehler) as adult sisters who throw one last house party in their childhood home before their parents sell it. Universal Pictures released it wide on December 18, 2015, the same day as *Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Jason Moore; screenplay by Paula Pell[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70711-SISTERS) |
| Stars | Tina Fey as Kate Ellis, Amy Poehler as Maura Ellis[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70711-SISTERS) |
| Release | December 18, 2015 (wide), Universal Pictures; R rating; 118 minutes[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015) |
| Box office | $105,011,053 worldwide per Box Office Mojo; $106,030,660 per The Numbers, against a $30,000,000 production budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1850457/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sisters-%282015%29) |
| Critical scores | 60% Tomatometer (178 reviews) and 52% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 5.9 on Metacritic from 37 critics[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sisters/) |
| Working titles | The Nest; The Rock Tumbler[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70711-SISTERS) |
| Music / photography | Score by Christophe Beck; cinematography by Barry Peterson[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70711-SISTERS) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Kate (Tina Fey) and Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) are summoned home when their parents, Bucky and Deana ([James Brolin](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-brolin) and [Dianne Wiest](https://www.edgepedia.org/dianne-wiest)), decide to sell the family house in Florida, and they have one weekend to clean out their old bedrooms[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015) • [6](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sisters-2015/). Unhappy at the news, the recently divorced Maura and her hotheaded sister plan one final party to recapture their glory days with former classmates; as the party spirals out of control, they realize there may not be a house left when it ends[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015).
The film reverses the dynamic the two stars played in their 2008 comedy *Baby Mama*: Fey plays the irresponsible, inconsistently employed older sister, a hairdresser and single mother, while Poehler plays the responsible younger sister Maura, a divorced nurse in Atlanta[7](https://time.com/4141195/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehler-featurette/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sisters-2015). The supporting cast draws heavily on *Saturday Night Live* alumni, including [Maya Rudolph](https://www.edgepedia.org/maya-rudolph), Rachel Dratch, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, and [Samantha Bee](https://www.edgepedia.org/samantha-bee), alongside [Ike Barinholtz](https://www.edgepedia.org/ike-barinholtz) as Maura's love interest James, John Leguizamo, John Cena as a drug dealer, and Greta Lee as Hae-Won[9](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/sisters-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zodyxmje) • [10](https://time.com/4154807/sisters-movie-review/).
## Origin
Screenwriter Paula Pell, a *Saturday Night Live* writer since 1995, based the sisters' rapport on her own adolescence and her teenage diary, which she wrote at age 13 and later read aloud to entertain the show's staff; the film's party gives Poehler's Maura, the prudish one in Pell's household, the chance to make up for restrained teenage years[7](https://time.com/4141195/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehler-featurette/) • [11](https://time.com/4119970/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehlers/). One of the alternate titles, The Rock Tumbler, refers to a diary entry in which Maura writes about shining up an amethyst[11](https://time.com/4119970/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehlers/). Pell had known Fey and Poehler for years before the film; Fey joined *SNL* two years after Pell, and Poehler in 2001[11](https://time.com/4119970/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehlers/).
## Release and box office
The film opened wide on December 18, 2015, deliberately scheduled against *Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens* under the tagline #YouCanSeeThemBoth[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sisters-2015). It earned $13,922,855 in its opening domestic weekend from 2,962 theaters, ranking third that weekend, and finished with $87,044,645 domestically (82.9 percent of its total)[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1850457/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sisters-%282015%29). The two box-office trackers differ slightly on the worldwide total, $105,011,053 versus $106,030,660, but both place the film at roughly 3.5 times its $30,000,000 production budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1850457/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sisters-%282015%29). The MPA rated it R for crude sexual content and language throughout, and for drug use; the video release followed on March 1, 2016[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sisters-%282015%29).
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 60% Tomatometer from 178 reviews and a 52% Popcornmeter audience score, with the critics consensus crediting the "sharp blend of pathos and vulgarity" and Fey and Poehler's "effervescent chemistry"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015). Metacritic reports a score of 5.9 based on 37 critic reviews[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sisters/).
**Critical views divided over the script.** Reviewers consistently praised the lead pairing. The Guardian called it a "cracking, crowdpleasing comedy" and credited the two stars' timing and easy rapport[12](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/10/sisters-review-crowdpleasing-cracking-comedy), and the Online Film Critics Society roundup quoted Jason Bailey's view that the film is "a Fey & Poehler picture, a comedy vehicle designed to showcase the skills and personalities of its stars" that mostly succeeds[13](https://ofcs.org/reviews-sisters-2015/). Detractors targeted the writing and structure: [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic)'s Megan Garber found the plot both jarring and predictable with thin supporting characters[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015), and Slant Magazine saw an Apatow-influenced formula of drawn-out improvisatory bits and juvenile bawdiness that suffocated the more poignant notes[6](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sisters-2015/). Christy Lemire, writing at RogerEbert.com, argued the film's appeal lies in how it flips the house-party genre, traditionally anchored by male characters, through Fey and Poehler's established bond[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sisters-2015).
The film received two Critics' Choice Award nominations, including Best Comedy, and a nomination for Tina Fey as Best Actress in a Comedy[14](https://cinegraph.org/movies/sisters-2015).
## References
1. [Sisters (2015), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70711-SISTERS)
2. [Sisters (2015), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015)
3. [Sisters (2015), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1850457/)
4. [Sisters (2015), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sisters-%282015%29)
5. [Sisters Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sisters/)
6. [Sisters review, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sisters-2015/)
7. [Watch Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Read From the Diary that Inspired Sisters, Time](https://time.com/4141195/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehler-featurette/)
8. [Sisters movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sisters-2015)
9. [Sisters, BBFC](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/sisters-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zodyxmje)
10. [Review: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Are Closer Than Siblings in Sisters, Time](https://time.com/4154807/sisters-movie-review/)
11. [Sisters Introduces Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Semisecret Sibling, Time](https://time.com/4119970/sisters-tina-fey-amy-poehlers/)
12. [Sisters review – cracking, crowdpleasing comedy, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/10/sisters-review-crowdpleasing-cracking-comedy)
13. [Reviews: Sisters (2015), Online Film Critics Society](https://ofcs.org/reviews-sisters-2015/)
14. [Sisters, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/sisters-2015)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2015 to 2016 › Titles K to Z*
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