MIDNIGHT REVIEWS His Three Daughters Review
Almost too real to be entertaining. Almost.
His Three Daughters (1hr 41mins)
Directed by: Azazel Jacobs
Featuring: Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen
Synopsis: Three estranged sisters (Coon, Lyonne, Olsen) decide to live under the same roof for the time it takes their ailing father (Jay O. Sanders) to finally pass away. The question is whether they can fix the broken relationships they share with each other along the way.
Review: His Three Daughters, premiering over a year before its wider release, and even then only released in ‘select theatres’ by Netflix, is only a tragic story in that it will likely remain seen by far too few people.
Katie (Coon) and Christina (Olsen) converge on Rachel’s (Lyonne) apartment, where she has spent months caring for their father, all three of them resigned to the fact that he will die soon and leave them in the precarious position of, at best, not knowing each other and at worst, hating each other.
Rachel has put the hours in with their father, but seems stand-offish. Katie seems the quickest to put together the necessary plans for the near future, but is controlling and refuses to connect with her own emotions. They each ignore the other, or are at each other’s throats. Christina, when not practising breathing techniques and yoga stretches, attempts to keep everyone together through positivity and mindful apologies, but also seems to be hiding her true emotions as well.
The script is electric.
It’s clear, besides acting as a reminder to connect with one’s family, that His Three Daughters is about being truthful in one way or another. Rachel only makes progress when coming out of her room to face the truth of what is happening and who is now in her apartment. When Katie stops being overbearing and intrusive, she reveals a heart aching with pain and worry. Christina, seemingly forgotten as the younger sibling, does the best for herself and others when taking the front foot.
The entire cast is exemplary. Coon, perhaps best known for playing the most likeable, nicest character in Gone Girl, spends most of the movie somehow pulling off the opposite and being genuinely unlikeable. Natasha Lyonne is the quieter, more insular of the three, something that may sound unusual to fans of Russian Doll and Orange is the New Black. Elizabeth Olsen sheds the restricting skin grafted on by the Marvel Universe and shows off once again that when left to portray a character that she is a wonderful actor, managing to exude anxiety even when having a pleasant conversation on a park bench.
Each one is playing against type, is what I’m saying. All three characters feel so completely real due to the partnership of performance and script. This seems a given, but the bare-bones nature of His Three Daughters means any lacking performance would be found out; wrinkles unlikely to be hidden behind smoke and mirrors
Several sequences bring tears to the eyes.
The script is electric. Dialogue makes it clear we’re getting dropped right next to this family, to observe them. There isn’t much in the way of clear-cut exposition; instead we piece together family histories as best we can from arguments and comments. The film isn’t bothered with spelling things out. Two of the sisters very occasionally engage in what sounds like a secret language, but Jacobs realises explaining it isn’t important. This is the script’s MO throughout, the film perhaps emphasising Rachel’s point of view slightly more but never falling into the trap of taking sides.
There are times where the film feels almost too real to actually be enjoyable. Despite never having been in this exact situation, anyone who has had tense situations with family will recognise the raw nerves and moments where things are better left unsaid. Laughter is brought not from sitcom jokes, but recognising and wishing for better in these situations.
In a similar way, His Three Daughters manages to wrench heartbreaking moments without ever feeling melodramatic. Several sequences bring tears to the eyes. This is most notable during a long sequence that acts as the finale, when things seem a little too good to be true.
The film certainly doesn’t outstay its welcome. At just over ninety minutes, it bucks the trend of the last few years and the foreseeable future (Wicked, at 2hr 40mins? Really?) and when the credits roll it’s almost a shame to leave His Three Daughters just as they turn a corner. Just like their father’s life, it seems to end too early but perhaps, on reflection, it ends here for the best.
His Three Daughters is available to watch on Netflix.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter or listen to the podcast he co-hosts with Leslie Wai.
