What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Family
Film · 2013
If you loved The Family, start with Lilyhammer (Anne Bjørnstad, 2012) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 2 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Family across media.
What hooked you in The Family is the way high-stakes criminal pasts inevitably collide with the mundanity of small-town life.
Books on the same thread
The Witness
Sandra Brown · Book · 2013
Explores: woman in jeopardy, protective mother, small town secrets.
Like the Manzonis in The Family, Kendall Deaton must navigate the constant threat of discovery while protecting her family in a quiet, unsuspecting town where secrets are dangerous.
The Client
John Grisham · Book · 2008
Shares a thread with The Family: witness protection.
If you enjoyed the tension of witness protection in The Family, you will appreciate how this story captures the vulnerability of an outsider caught between mob violence and law.
Spy x Family, Vol. 1
Tatsuya Endo · Book · 2020
Explores: found family, secret identity, espionage.
This series mirrors the domestic farce of The Family by exploring how dangerous individuals attempt to maintain a facade of normalcy while living as a makeshift, hidden unit.
The Godfather
Mario Puzo · Book · 1969
Shares a thread with The Family: Revenge.
If the mafia dynamics in The Family drew you in, return to the source material that defined the genre and shaped the loyalty codes the Manzonis struggle to abandon.
Series on the same thread
Lilyhammer
Anne Bjørnstad · Series · 2012
Shares 2 threads with The Family: Witness Protection, Culture Clash.
This show is the spiritual successor to The Family, perfectly capturing the fish-out-of-water comedy that occurs when a career mobster tries to integrate into a sleepy, foreign community.
Vincenzo
Series · 2021
Shares 2 threads with The Family: Revenge, Dark Comedy.
Vincenzo shares the dark comedic edge of The Family, following a mob-affiliated protagonist who finds himself navigating a new culture while relying on his brutal, ingrained professional habits.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Witness: In His Own Words
Podcast
Shares a thread with The Family: Witness Protection.
This podcast provides the real-world perspective on the witness protection life portrayed in The Family, detailing the actual psychological toll of abandoning one's identity to escape organized crime.
Small Town Murder
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: provincial life, tragic irony, forensic breakdown.
Much like the comedic breakdown of crime in The Family, this show balances dark, tragic events with a sharp, observational humor that highlights the absurdity of small-town life.
Common questions
Is The Family based on a true story about a witness protection program?
The Family is a 2013 movie about Giovanni Manzoni, a former mobster who enters the Witness Protection Program. While the film depicts the challenges of relocating to France, it is a fictional narrative centered on a family unable to abandon their old habits.
What happens to the Manzoni family in The Family?
In The Family, Giovanni Manzoni and his relatives relocate to a sleepy town in France under the Witness Protection Program. Despite their handler's efforts to keep them hidden, the family continues their old ways, which eventually places everyone in danger from their former Mafia cohorts.
Does The Family feature the main character living under an alias?
Yes, the main character in The Family lives under an alias to avoid detection by the Mafia. Giovanni Manzoni adopts the name Fred Blake while attempting to blend into a quiet French town after ratting out his former criminal associates to the authorities.
Why is the family in The Family in danger?
The family in The Family is in danger because they cannot stop resorting to their old Mafia habits. Even though they are in the Witness Protection Program, their inability to conform to a normal life alerts their former cohorts to their location in France.