“All happy families are alike,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. “Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” That observation resonated so strongly with local filmmaker and musician Haroula Rose, she used the first three words for the title of her just-released second feature. To be clear, the Landry clan portrayed in All Happy Families certainly falls into Tolstoy’s latter category. 

Told predominantly from the point of view of Graham, a lovable guy whose writing-acting career never quite took off, the film follows him, his brother, and their aging parents through one long weekend. The dramedy unfolds as they paint walls and install dimmers: Graham has to juggle family issues — they are all, to put it mildly, going through some stuff — while renovating their two-flat for rental income. It was filmed entirely in Chicago with a cast of familiar faces, including Josh Radnor, famous for his lead role in How I Met Your Mother, as Graham; Becky Ann Baker, Emmy-nominated for two guest-starring turns in the comedies Girls and Ted Lasso, as matriarch Sue Landry; and Rob Huebel, whom Entertainment Weekly called “the premier D-bag character actor of his generation,” as the narcissist brother with a hit TV show. The supporting cast is largely filled by local actors, including theater and improv vet David Pasquesi. 

Rose grew up in Lincolnwood and has lived all around the city, from Hyde Park to Logan Square to Lincoln Square. Chicago talked to her on a video call from California, shortly before she arrives back home to appear at an October 7 screening at the Music Box. Home viewers can catch All Happy Families, which critics have praised, via video-on-demand beginning October 18.

Haroula, you split your time living between Chicago and L.A., right?

Yeah yeah. My husband is from just outside of New York. Now Chicago is part of his mix, because I feel like you can’t ever really leave Chicago, especially if you have a very tight Greek family, like I do. But he loves L.A., so we’re trying to figure out the ratio. We’re in the Gold Coast a lot, in a home that belongs to my family. They used to rent it out, and then, during the pandemic, the last renter moved out, and they tasked me with fixing it up and taking care of it for the next person to move in. But it became a thing where I just stay here now. It’s definitely a deal.

That reminds me a little bit of what Graham Landry’s doing in All Happy Families. 

I know. There were some parallels, for sure, when we were writing.

Your new film has an original screenplay — but there’s a connection to your first film, Once Upon a River, adapted from a bestselling novel. That’s how you met your Families co-writer, Coburn Goss?

He’s the best. He’s also a Chicago actor, so multi-talented. He was an actor in Once Upon a River, where he played a villainous role, but he’s just about the kindest person.  He became a dear friend. One day when we were working on a scene, I just had one of those psychic moments where I thought, “We should write something together.” Little did I know then that, in another life, he’s an award-winning playwright. When 2020 rolled around, we had this time to focus and write.

Many filmmakers shooting in Chicago would include iconic scene-setting vistas, such as your shots of Loop skyscrapers and bridges. But you also give us great glimpses of lesser-known authentic Windy City treasures, like the vintage Heart O Chicago Motel sign in Edgewater. How did you approach sharing your love of your home in this film? 

There’s a number of factors at play. I grew up in Chicago and I love the city, first of all. You’ve got the lake; you’ve got all this greenery; you’ve got cuisine, art, different pockets of ethnicity. I really wanted to show that off. My dad’s in real estate, and when I was a kid, he’d say, “Hey, let’s go for a ride.” I didn’t realize he was scoping out neighborhoods, but as a child, it put the idea of “location, location location” into my head. In terms of being a filmmaker, that’s huge. And for the B-roll, I wanted to show different parts of things, the lake and the skate park and the motels. I love that stuff! It feels so old-school. 

I’d like to compliment your tremendous casting, from your leads on down to the smaller supporting roles. Like any good Chicago theater-goer, I’m a fan of David Pasquesi. And then the agent character, Lila, really popped off the screen, so I looked up actor Colleen Camp — she played Yvette in Clue! She’s a key character in the pantheon of queer classics.

She’s a total legend. She’s been in so many seminal things. She was one of the only women in Apocalypse Now. I met her years ago, when I first moved to L.A., and I wrote this character with her in mind. She was the only supporting-cast member we flew in; everyone else was Chicago. Colleen nailed it. She’s just perfect for that character. It’s so funny when you have these psychic moments of premonition: I didn’t tell her this, but I had thought that this agent would have red glasses, and she showed up with the exact glasses I had in my head.

You seem to develop true friendships with your collaborators. Is that part of your creative process?

It’s usually kind of an organic thing. Colleen, I always knew I wanted to work with her on something. Josh and I are old friends. That also came via music — I had a song on How I Met Your Mother, which led to us meeting. We got along very well, and I always wanted to find something to do with him. Rodney Crowell, who has a cameo in the music scene, drove up from Nashville. He’s a Grammy Award-winning guy, kind of a legend in his own right. His last record, Jeff Tweedy produced it and he recorded it in Chicago. A lot of people don’t know him, and I really think they should.

Which cinemas in the city do you usually visit?

I go to the Siskel Film Center all the time. It’s walkable from our place in Chicago. And I go to Music Box, and to Doc Films down in Hyde Park. The Davis Theater up in Lincoln Square is so sweet. I go to the AMCs too. I kind of go anywhere. 

Have any of your films ever screened at the Music Box before?

I had a short film there, but not in the main room, so this is special and I’m thrilled. It’s my favorite venue to watch movies. I feel really fortunate, and I can’t wait for everyone to be in the same place and watch it together.

What’s next for you — anything you want to share about your music?

My husband Oliver [Hill] is a musician, and we actually made a record together, our first time doing something instrumental. It’s called Cycles, coming out early next year. That’s really fun, especially because it’s with him.