His Three Daughters (2024) Review!!

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.

My Take – Though I am all in for both epic and standard filmmaking style, I do hold a special place for small chamber films like Fences (2016), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), and One Night at Miami (2020), where the key elements are the acting and the script. Though such films usually come off as theatrical plays, yet backed by masterful direction, they usually tend to capture the viewer’s attention from beginning to end.

This latest feature from writer-director Azazel Jacobs (French Exit) is one such excellent addition to the ever growing list. A bitter sweet and emotional story of three sisters who have come together in a New York apartment to be with their ailing father who is on his death bed.

Anchored by brilliant performances of all three main actresses, the film offers an authentic story about what often occurs under such difficult conditions, astutely blending intense drama, scathing personal interactions, dark humor and reconciliation against a backdrop of edgy anguish, searing emotional pain and pervasive uncertainty.

Sure, while the subject is certainly not obscure or uncommon and may make viewers squirm in its discussions about hospice, end-of-life planning and DNRs, but director Jacobs relays all delicate intricacies and nuances with gentle assurance.

Indeed, this wonderful family drama is one of the better releases of the year so far. One that deserves serious consideration as awards season approaches, particularly in the writing and acting categories.

The story follows three very different sisters: Katie (Carrie Coon), Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) and their half-sister Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), who begrudgingly join together for the waning days of the life of their father, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders), who has been placed in home hospice care.

During this reluctant, duty-bound reunion, tempers routinely flare in confrontations stemming from the rehashing of old, unresolved issues, disagreements about current responsibilities, and the seemingly endless waiting for the inevitable to arrive. These matters all wear on the distraught siblings as they struggle to sort out what’s transpiring and try to arrive at better, more civil understandings of one another.

Here, director Azazel Jacobs, who has also written the script and edited the film, has done an excellent job in capturing the dysfunctional sibling relationship, which is both bitter and sweet in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the apartment as they quarrel and argue over the many past and forgotten issues of their growing years. The screenplay takes its time to elucidate the reasons for the rift between the women.

Each of the three sisters has a distinct personality. Katie, seemingly the eldest, is constantly worried and often critical of Rachel, particularly because of Rachel’s struggles with addiction. On the other hand, Christina is the most caring and gentle, showing compassion to everyone around her. One of the astonishing things about the film is how clear the precise nature of the strife is from almost the very first scene, just because of the way these terrific actresses relate to one another on screen.

Director Jacobs gamely captures the out-of-time emotional shearing and bizarre mundanity of palliative care, how the walls, memories, hours warp and metastasize around waiting for the inevitable. Shot almost entirely in the claustrophobic single location of the apartment, with the exception when Rachel gets to venture outside to a bench, but only because Katie takes issue with her weed habit.

Yet, interest remains sustained throughout, not so much by way of events, but as by the interactions of the three very different sisters, and the few peripheral characters that surround them. Dealing with the impending death of a parent, this will (maybe) touch a nerve with some, and give others more fortunate (maybe) an insight to the dynamics to be expected. The film also uses the father in this scenario in fascinating ways.

Despite the tight confines and the hours the women spend in their dad’s room, the camera never ventures in there with them. As time passes, we become acutely aware that while the father is a topic of constant discussion, he’s never shown on camera. He’s an absence at the center of the film that seems to foreshadow the main characters’ lives after he’s gone. This is subtle, unshowy film-making that is entirely in the service of the screenplay and the performances.

Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Carrie Coon are all brilliant in their own way. Coon is considered among America’s finest, stalwart performers and this film will prove why to any naysayers. Olsen reminds us why she was considered such a powerhouse before the Marvel machine got a hold of her. Lyonne demonstrates that she’s as gifted a dramatic actor as she is a comedian. When they argue it’s gripping to watch and they’re even better when they do come together.

Though Jay O. Sanders is off-screen for most of the film, makes a surprise appearance with one of the more touching monologues ever. In smaller roles, Rudy Galvan, Jose Febus, Jasmine Bracey and Jovan Adepo manage to leave a strong mark. On the whole, ‘His Three Daughters’ is an excellent emotional drama that also acts as a terrific showcase for all three of its leads.