R | 1h 45m | Drama | 2024
As someone who spent the final hours of my parents’ lives with both of them, “His Three Daughters” (“Daughters”) struck a loud chord with me.
Despite the great pain at the time, I greatly treasure those moments, not so much for what they meant to me but rather what it meant to them. I attended them with all or some of my four siblings, two of whom, besides blood, I had and still have nothing in common. Despite our differences, we were there for our parents.
Many of you have gone, or will go, through the same thing under similar, less-than-ideal circumstances, which is why “Daughters” will likely speak to you.
The title characters here are Christina (Elizabeth Olsen), Katie (Carrie Coon), and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne). They gather in the New York City apartment, where they grew up, to look after their dying father, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders).
Katie, Christina, and Rachel
Katie is the eldest and a heavy-duty type-A. Speaking a mile a minute, she’s stressed about her rebellious teen daughter. She judges the other two without knowing all of the facts first, something she only half-heartedly later acknowledges.
Middle child Christina is seemingly the most well-adjusted of the trio. She continually gushes over her toddler daughter and idyllic marriage, but is a bit too outwardly upbeat and optimistic. No one can possibly be this unconditionally content. It becomes clear that Christina isn’t who she seems.
Treading Water
After a perfect amount of time spent setting up and establishing his co-leads, writer-director Azazel Jacobs (“The Lovers”) begins treading water. In the next 30 minutes, we find out little more about the sisters than what was explained at the onset. Katie is still angry, Christina remains too content, and Rachel continues to wake-and-bake.
Warning: Non-Spoiler Spoiler Ahead
It was a wise choice for Jacobs to not show or hear from the Vincent character until the final 30 minutes. It’s this decision that carries “Daughters” securely over the finish line. Vincent is in the apartment the entire time and clearly within earshot of all of the conversations, but he is also alluded to as being close to comatose and near catatonic.Keeping Vincent off-screen for so long before showing him in the flesh makes the final reveal all the more significant and emotionally resonant. Neither we nor the sisters expected him to even get out of his bed, much less speak.
This is where the narrative may become fantasy or remain real. But for someone who went through this same thing twice in real life, I viewed it as real. The fact that all three sisters see and hear the same thing tells me it was authentic.
Few of us will ever be afforded the absolute luxury and blessing of being surrounded by those who love us when we pass over to the other side. Death is so often random and indiscriminate to make this a near impossibility, but it does happen every once in a while.
We should all be so lucky as Vincent and my parents.
