Nine places on the chart and where each comes from
The film follows Kym Buchman, released from rehab for a few days, as she returns to her childhood home for the wedding of her older sister Rachel to Sidney Williams. The table records what the film states about each person and the part of the film that shows it. Feelings between people are left out, because they belong to an analysis rather than to the chart.
| Person | Place on the chart | What the film states | Where it is shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kym Buchman | Younger daughter and the index person | On leave from rehab, nine months sober | Her first day home, with a drug test and a Narcotics Anonymous meeting |
| Rachel Buchman | Older daughter | Marries Sidney and is pregnant | The argument after the rehearsal dinner, and the wedding |
| Ethan Buchman | Youngest child, crossed out | Drowned when the car Kym was driving while intoxicated went into a lake | Kym’s account at a later meeting |
| Paul Buchman | Father of the three children | Divorced from Abby and married to Carol | The weekend at his house |
| Carol | Paul’s second wife | Stepmother to Rachel and Kym | The weekend at the house |
| Abby | Paul’s first wife and the children’s mother | Married again to a man the sources do not name | The rehearsal dinner and Kym’s visit to her home |
| Sidney Williams | Rachel’s husband, with the pregnancy below them | A musician who marries Rachel | The wedding |
Genogram Builder
Draw the family of a film you are studying
Open a blank three generation sheet in the editor, name each person after a character and add the second marriages, with the key drawn for you.
- Opens without an account
- Divorce, remarriage and pregnancy marks from the standard notation
- PNG and PDF export with a free account, with a watermark
Both parents have married again since the divorce
Paul and Abby are joined by a marriage line with two slashes, the notation for a divorce, and their three children hang from it. Carol stands on Paul’s other side and Abby’s second husband on hers, each joined by a solid line. The sources name no children of either second marriage, so nothing hangs from those lines.
The film does not say when Paul and Abby divorced, or whether it was before or after Ethan’s death. The chart gives the divorce no year and draws no link between the two events, which leaves that question open for discussion.
Read the chart from Kym outward
Kym is the index person, because the film follows her weekend and most of its scenes are hers. Reading outward from her shows the structure in a few steps.
- Start at Kym
Her double outline marks the index person. The filled lower-left quarter, crossed by a full-width line, records recovery from substance abuse, as the film states.
- Go up to her parents
Paul and Abby share a marriage line with two slashes for their divorce.
- Follow each parent outward
Carol is married to Paul, and an unnamed second husband is married to Abby.
- Cross to Ethan
The X through his square records his death, with no year, because the film gives none.
- End at Rachel
Her line runs to Sidney, and the triangle below them is the pregnancy she announces.
Keep what the film states apart from what you infer
A Rachel Getting Married genogram is set in some family therapy and social work classes, where the discussion after the chart is the real exercise. The table pairs events with questions a discussion might ask and gives no answers, because the answers are the work of the class.
| What the film shows | A question a discussion might ask | What the chart records |
|---|---|---|
| Kym makes amends at the rehearsal dinner as part of her twelve-step program | How a family hears an apology made in front of guests | Nothing, since an apology is an event |
| Rachel says she has never forgiven Kym for Ethan’s death | What forgiveness, and its absence, does between two sisters | No line between the sisters |
| Abby refuses responsibility for leaving Ethan with Kym, and the visit ends in a physical fight | How blame is shared or refused after the death of a child | No line, though a course may ask for one with this scene named |
| Rachel bathes and dresses Kym on the morning of the wedding | What care between the sisters says after the fight | No line, because closeness is a reading |
The film leaves several family facts unstated
A careful chart marks the unknown as unknown. The film gives no birth years and no age for Ethan beyond his being a child, though one review states that Kym was sixteen when he died. It shows no grandparents, so the chart stops at Paul and Abby. Kieran, Sidney’s best man, and Emma, Rachel’s best friend, are not relatives and are not drawn.
Use the film for a seminar and write your own reading
Watch with a notebook and write down each family fact with the scene that shows it. Draw the structure first, then add relationship lines only where a scene supports them. The prompts below can open a seminar or the analysis section of a paper.
Structure and loss
- How the family speaks about Ethan, and who avoids speaking about him
- Which events of the weekend repeat a pattern from before Ethan’s death
Writing it up
- Which relationship lines you would add, and the scene that supports each one
- What Kym’s recovery program asks of her, and how her family responds
- What a therapist meeting this family would want to know that the film never shows
Common questions
Why Kym and not Rachel is the index person
The title names Rachel, but the film follows Kym through the weekend. If your course asks you to centre Rachel, move the double outline to her and the structure stays the same.
Why Kym is the only person with a health mark
The film states that Kym is in rehab, attends Narcotics Anonymous and has nine months of sobriety. It states no condition for anyone else.
Whether this genogram answers a class assignment
No. It draws the structure the film states. An assignment asks for your own reading of that structure, in your own words.
Sources and methodology
We make Genogram Builder. We used the references below for this guide. Last checked on 9 November 2026.
Draw the family you are studying on the blank sheet one generation at a time, and name the scene behind every line you add. No account is needed to begin.
Open the blank three generation sheet