HIS THREE DAUGHTERS (NEXTFLIX) (2024)

SYNOPSIS: This tense, touching, and funny portrait of family dynamics follows three estranged sisters as they converge in a New York apartment to care for their ailing father and try to mend their own broken relationship with one another. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

Her Three Daughters is a simple yet profound movie about family dynamics, siblings rivalry and a soon to be departed love one. Strikingly touching, it works more like a stage play nevertheless qualify as a solo quiet watch for those looking for movies that are emotional and humane.

Sisters Katie (Carrie Coon) and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) has returned to their childhood New York apartment to look after their dying father who has been receiving hospice care at home. We can sensed something is a bit off when another sister of theirs, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) who stayed with their father hardly communicates with the two of them. Instead Rachel spends her days smoking pot, betting on sports and spending time with her boyfriend in her room.

Katie, the eldest sister and also the most “motherly” of the trio has no patience for Rachel and has no qualms lecturing her behaviour while she busy herself preparing her dad’s obituary and DNR. Christina, being the youngest has to be the peacemaker despite the overwhelming circumstances. As the drama unfolds, we saw a different side of Rachel. The seemingly hippie actually is the one who has been companying their old dad being the caregiver all these while.

While New York is thousands of kilometres away from Singapore, Azazel Jacobs’s His Three Daughter appears to mirror the struggles and happenings of local families as well. Katie who happens to live in the same state as her father hardly visits him. Does it still give her the right to lecture Rachel who choses to face her sadness using her own ways? What about Christina who lives far across the state? Can she be forgotten for neglecting her father because of it?

There is this ugly truth about Jacob’s self-penned and directed drama that is painful and poetic. No one wants to witness the estrangement of their kids during their last days on earth. Disagreement comes as we grow and not during the times when we were young. The sisters all had a beautiful relationship with their father, perhaps each other as well and the fantasy closing adds to all the complexity of human relationships and reminds us that happiness needs only one small step to achieve.

Unquestionably, Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne are superb in this wonderful drama. All three actresses come together to deliver an outstanding piece of work that speaks of contemporary family relationships, personal regrets and the hardships of dealing with grief. Her Three Daughters is a great example of having a fantastic, relevant script and masterful acting, one that will be remembered and talked of down the road.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee