These films use external genres (murder mystery and crime thriller) as vehicles to explore greed, loyalty, and favor within a family unit.
Every family has one—the matriarch or eldest daughter who holds all the secrets: the hidden bankruptcy, the non-paternity event, the criminal record. When she finally breaks under the weight, she doesn't confess one secret. She unspools all of them at a holiday dinner. The storyline isn’t the secrets themselves, but the aftermath: who forgives, who flees, and who builds a new identity from the rubble.
Why do audiences binge-watch shows about miserable people yelling at each other over Thanksgiving dinner?
These shows excel by contrasting massive external stakes (billion-dollar empires or life milestones) with intimate, painful psychological warfare between siblings and parents.