Hi,
I think they are referring to activities that occur when an individual is not participating with their family. Time spend independent of their family.
Normally when a person is separated from their parents, for instance when they become a teenager or live away from home for university, it is considered to be liberating. The person has a chance to discover who they are as an individual, independent of their parents.
The author is saying that these three films present time spent away from family to be chaotic and unfulfilling.