Sisterhood, Inc. is the final film in Hallmark’s Loveuary slate of movies, and it’s a grand way to cap off the month. While it does provide a satisfying romance the film – about a CEO who uses her professional skills on her sister and tries to employ the principles of business to guide her life toward success – is more about family love than romantic love. As the sisters grow closer, they (and their mom) come to some hard but important realizations about their relationships, and the film is a loving testament to family and sisterly bonds. As sweet and sappy as that may sound though, don’t worry, it’s also a seriously funny comedy to boot.
Opening Shot: Two women begin their days in completely opposite ways. Professional Type-A personality Megan Moore (Rachael Leigh Cook) wakes up early, Pelotons, eats some yogurt and video chats with her assistant about her schedule for the day. Her disheveled younger sister Izzy (Daniella Monet) arrives at her apartment after a night at the club, unable to find her keys, and then shows up late to her job as a pizza delivery driver.
The Gist: Megan Moore is the founder of a successful app called BeScheduled, an calendar app that keeps track of every detail of your life, and she has put her whole life into her job. Which is why, when she’s ousted by her company’s board, she’s completely unsure what to do next. Workaholics gotta work! Other companies won’t touch her because her reputation in the press has been tarnished, so she spends time trying new things and reconnecting with people from her life, including her mom and her much-younger sister Izzy. After Megan’s father died, her mom remarried a guy named Ken (who Megan affectionately calls K-Pop) who helped raise Izzy, while Megan moved away and became the independent woman she is, but Izzy has spent her whole life babied and dependent on her parents for help with just about everything from paying her phone bill to bailing her boyfriend out of jail.
Over dinner one night, after ingesting a little too much truth serum (i.e. adult Shirley Temples, expertly mixed by K-Pop), Megan tells Izzy that her life is a mess and she and their mother are codependent. She continues, explaining that if Izzy would let her, she would like to be in charge of her life, running it like a company so Izzy can find success and happiness. Izzy is taken aback at first, but the next day she admits she needs Megan’s help. “Run my life like a corporation!… Make me a success like you. I will do anything you say,” she tells her sister.
And so, Megan creates a team, “life coach by committee” as she calls it, to help Izzy sort out her life, consisting of Megan’s stylist, Izzy’s boss at the pizza shop (a sweet, cuddly turn from Sopranos star Steve Schirripa), Izzy’s old babysitter (Jackie Hoffman doing her perfect Jackie Hoffman thing) and Dominic Hayes (Leonidas Gulaptis), a man responded to an ad Megan placed looking for an “independent director,” someone Izzy doesn’t know who can provide objective feedback about her. Dominic, a psychology professor at a local college, is intrigued by the idea of a board of directors running someone’s life and is curious how this will all work.
Megan gives the board three months – with a deadline of Izzy’s 30th birthday – to turn Izzy’s love life, finances, and overall well-being around. As Megan makes Izzy her “project” the two actually grow closer, forming a bond they never had, while Megan and Dominic also get cozy once they realize how much they have in common. But when an investor hears that Megan is working on this new life coach by committee idea and she starts shopping it to him as an app, she jeopardizes everything when Izzy and Dominic start to think she’s only in this for her own professional gain.
Our Take: The premise of Sisterhood, Inc. initially sounds like the premise of a sitcom episode: the sloppiest member of the squad relinquishes control of their life and lets someone else make decisions for them. (I feel like this episode does exist on a real sitcom, I just can’t place it.) But this movie goes beyond classic sitcom tropes because while it is genuinely funny throughout, it has a lot of tender backstory that helps makes sense of every character’s own vulnerabilities and flaws.
Megan, as put together as she seems, has intentionally estranged herself from Izzy and her parents, feeling as though they’re a tight family unit and she’s been on the outside of that for her whole adult life. Meanwhile, Izzy has always been jealous of Megan’s perfection. Meanwhile, their mom still helicopters around Izzy, while ignoring self-sufficient Megan. Beyond just being a rom-com where Megan and Dominic happen to meet and fall in love, it’s the family dynamic and the relationships between these three women that form the heart of the film and are truly what’s at the emotional center. These three characters are brought to life by the actresses playing them in such a way that they’re genuine and believable, serving laughs and tears in the same moment. As much as I’d like to give all the credit to the writing and acting in this film, a lot of credit goes to casting as well, because every character in the film, no matter how big or small, has been cast to perfection. The chemistry between everyone on the eclectic life coach committee is great, while Cook is the perfect foil to Monet’s haphazard Izzy. The romance may not be front and center in this rom-com – I might even suggest the film doesn’t even need it (gasp!) – because the premise itself, sitcom-y as it might sound, is strong enough to carry the film on its own.
Parting Shot: After the dust settles and the board and Izzy forgive Megan for being all business, Megan throws Izzy a 30th birthday party. Izzy, having mostly reverted back to her old self, watches as Megan and Dominic reunite and share a kiss.
Performance Worth Watching: Honestly, I can’t even decide who the funniest, most watchable character in this film is. I’ve been a fan of Daniella Monet for a minute now, as she can always be counted on for laughs, but Cook is equally impressive as a comedic leading lady, her humor just happens to be more subtle and dry. And Steve Schirripa, Jackie Hoffman and Judy Kain, who plays Megan and Izzy’s mom, are firing on all cylinders and clearly relishing their goofy roles.
Memorable Dialogue: When Megan and Izzy’s mom Lois (Kain) reveals that she uses a tracking app to keep tabs on Izzy’s whereabouts, she jokes, “Ken thinks I’m a worrywart but like Sally Field, not without my daughter!” It’s a delightfully random, funny reference that comes out of nowhere, but it’s one of many goofy, fun jokes in the script.
Our Call: STREAM IT! Sisterhood, Inc. is one of those “prestige” Hallmark movies that features a great ensemble and a script that moves at a rapid clip and is filled with wall-to-wall jokes and gags that are really fun.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.