Harry Potter (2001 - 2011)
Muriel's Wedding (1994)
The Sister: Muriel Heslop is a twentysomething slob from a whole family of indolent couch potatoes. However, while her brothers and sisters are happy to sleepwalk their way through life, Muriel wants something more for herself, and sets about trying to get it. You go, girl!
Sibling Rivalry: They're more bemused by her relocation to Sydney than jealous of her. "Why try harder?" seems to be the Heslop family motto.
White Christmas (1954)
The Sister: Rosemary Clooney plays Betty, the fiercely protective sister of Judy (Vera-Ellen), both of whom catch the eye of a pair of WW2 army buddies. Romantic misunderstandings abound, before the obligatorily cheerful ending.
Sibling Rivalry: They're very much on each other's side, although Judy does attempt to pull the wool over her sister's eyes with a fake engagement announcement designed to chivvy her along in her own relationship.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
The Sister: Older sister Kat has never had much truck with boys, even when her old man forbids younger sister Bianca from dating until Kat does the same. However, it later emerges that she's not just a bit of a prude, but had a shitty experience with school scumbag Joey. Bit of a rotter, that one.
Sibling Rivalry: The two spend most of the film at each other's throats, but Bianca extends the proverbial olive branch by lamping Joey in the face. Hurray!
Ramona And Beezus (2010)
The Sister: Beatrice and Ramona are typical sisters in that they get on each other's nerves with almost the same intensity as they love each other. Ramona is a constant source of embarrassment to her older sister, but underneath it all, they're best pals really. Awww.
Sibling Rivalry: The fact that Ramona still insists on calling her big sister "Beezus" (having been unable to pronounce "Beatrice" as a baby) is a daily source of aggravation to the older girl.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
The Sister: Martha's older sister Lucy puts up with a lot. Not only does she pick her little sibling up from the middle of nowhere, having heard nothing from her in months, but she then has to accommodate her increasingly unhinged behaviour. Not an easy ride.
Sibling Rivalry: The scene in which Martha quietly clambers into the bed where Lucy and her husband are having sex is the straw that breaks the camel's back!
Stardust (2007)
The Sister: Michelle Pfeiffer smoulders as Lamia, one of a trio of sisters who just so happen to be witches. As the youngest and most capable of the three, it is she who sets off in search of the heart of a fallen star in order to recapture youth for her and her sisters.
Sibling Rivalry: The older pair are consumed with jealousy when Lamia is restored to a picture of youth for the benefit of her mission.
Cries And Whispers (1972)
The Sister: Agnes, a rapidly dying young woman whose sisters return to the family home to be with when she finally passes.
Sibling Rivalry: At first, her two sisters struggle to comfort her, but in a posthumous scene shot from Agnes' perspective, she reveals the great love she experiences at the sight of her white-clad siblings entering the house. "Come what may, this is happiness," she says. "I cannot wish for anything better. Now, for a few minutes, I can experience perfection."
Practical Magic (1998)
The Sister: Sally Owens, one half of a pair of witches, haunted by a family curse that results in their male lovers dying out of the blue. Initially resentful of her magical abilities, she comes to embrace them in order to rescue her sister from an abusive boyfriend.
Sibling Rivalry: They're not massively close until they learn of the curse, at which point they band together for the greater good. Even when Sally kills Gillian's boyfriend, she's only doing so to help out!
Crimes Of The Heart (1986)
The Sister: Babe Magrath is one extremely feisty customer in this story of the chaos that ensues when a trio of sisters reunite after one of them shoots their husband dead. "I didn't like his stinkin' looks" she reasons, when quizzed about the murder. Okaaaaay….
Sibling Rivalry: They do tend to drive each other to distraction throughout the film. "Why'd you put your head in the oven?" enquires Meg of her younger sister's latest suicide attempt. "I don't know," replies Babe. "I'm having a bad day."
