His Three Daughters jarred me with its intimate exploration of three sisters as they await their father’s death. Many films have explored family dynamics — and their dysfunction — but writer-director Azazel Jacobs gets personal by making his characters uncomfortable in nearly every situation. There’s awkwardness, anger, and annoyance as the titular daughters tiptoe toe around each other, but there’s also love, too. His Three Daughters is a talky film that is often staged like a play. There’s nowhere to go as the characters are forced to face each other, but that’s also what makes it so poignant and lovely.
Katie (Carrie Coon) and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) are living with their sister Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) as they await their father’s death. The film opens with Katie going on about how irritated she is that Rachel doesn’t seem to be helping, even though she’d been caring for their father for a long time before he was placed in hospice care. Rachel largely stays out of Katie and Christina’s way as they fuss over their father and talk to the hospice team. The film’s tension arises from the strained relationship between Katie and Rachel, while Christina plays peacekeeper of sorts between them.
His Three Daughters Carefully & Sensitively Handles Its Subject Matter
One of the most beautiful things about His Three Daughters is the fact that it faces death head-on. The siblings are forced to confront their father’s approaching death and, crucially, what that means for their relationship. The characters’ emotions are already on the surface, and they’re just waiting to spill over (which they do, and often). Cleverly, Jacobs doesn’t even show their father, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders), until the very end, capitalizing on the sisters’ fraught feelings. We learn a lot about them throughout the film and Jacobs gives each of them their moment to shine.
The camera lingers on their faces and when Katie goes on a tirade, we’re focused on her words and body language and nothing else. His Three Daughters is set primarily in Rachel’s apartment and, in such an enclosed space, everything is heightened. There is little to distract us from the raw emotions, the inner and outer turmoil, and the tension brewing between the sisters. There’s never even a moment when the film starts to slow down; it lets us sit with the characters in contemplation. Jacobs’ script is heavy on dialogue, but it doesn’t wane and nothing is drawn out.
The Netflix film is moving. It deals with a heavy and difficult topic, but even while death lingers in the background — and Jacobs never lets us forget it — the story soars because of the trio’s central relationship. It’s the heart of the narrative, and it forces us to work through some discomfort along with the siblings. These are stubborn women who feel deeply, though they express it in different ways. Being forced to deal with their father’s death brings up a lot of resentment and unspoken issues from the past.
His Three Daughters’ Cast Is Tremendous
They Do The Emotional Heavylifting
His Three Daughters could’ve fallen into the trap of creating dysfunction for the sake of drama, but most of the sisters’ exchanges work as nice segues from a previous point. Nothing is contrived and some of the conversations feel like an emotional slap to the face given the conviction behind them. This is where the central performances elevate the writing.
What keeps the sisters together if not their father? The film capably ponders that question while capturing the intimacy and vulnerability of such a stressful, heartbreaking time…
Carrie Coon is in her element here. She plays Katie with a directness that startles, but it hides things that go unsaid. She has her own struggles, and Coon is firm yet vulnerable in her performance so that, even when we get frustrated with Katie, we also feel deeply for her. Olsen is nearly vibrating with anxious energy as Christina. She holds the family together but, though she talks things through and is far less angry than Katie, there’s also a lot of pain she laughs through. Olsen plays that balance wonderfully.
With Rachel, Lyonne has mastered the art of looking unbothered while her eyes give her feelings away. She sidesteps Katie’s poking because she doesn’t want to fight. Mostly, Lyonne plays Rachel as exhausted — emotionally and physically. But it’s when things are hashed out between the sisters that Lyonne puts a spark back into Rachel, that sense of resignation not so hopeless anymore.
His Three Daughters is a balancing act. The characters are layered and the story is so simple yet thoroughly touching and, at times, painful to watch because of the flood of emotion that comes through. Jacobs explores not just coping with the loss of a parent but ponders how the connection between siblings might change and be affected by it. What keeps the sisters together if not their father? The film capably ponders that question while capturing the intimacy and vulnerability of such a stressful, heartbreaking time when the characters begin to grieve not only their father but their past.
His Three Daughters is now streaming on Netflix. The film is 101 minutes long and rated R for language and drug use.