His Three Daughters
The first thing Katie (Carrie Coon) does after arriving from Brooklyn is criticize her stepsister Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), who lives with their dying dad in a New York City apartment, for not having gotten his DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) form signed. Then she castigates her for smoking pot inside, something their dad had no problem with. Rachel just goes outside. New mother Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives from the West Coast and tries to be a peacekeeper while missing her daughter terribly. Although only conscious for brief stretches, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders) will be the cause of the reconciliation of “His Three Daughters.”
Laura's Review: B+
From “Momma’s Man” to “The Lovers” and even French Exit,” writer/director Azazel Jacobs has been an astute observer of family dynamics. His latest is one of, if not his very best, a portrait of a blended family where three sisters cohabitating in tight quarters over three days as their father dies learn that their perceptions of each other are all off the mark. Coon, Lyonne and Olsen form an incredible ensemble, supporting players adding layers of nuance.
If at first you may note these three actresses don’t really look like sisters, it is eventually clarified that Rachel is the daughter of Vincent’s second wife, who he adopted and who has cared for him up until his final days. Katie and Christina, do, in fact resemble each other, but only physically, the two sisters temperamental opposites, Katie tightly wound, critical and controlling; Christina New Agey and conciliatory. After Katie’s aggression, Rachel mostly keeps to herself, sparring affectionately with the building super (Jose Febus) over smoking pot outside and betting the sports parlays she enjoyed with her dad while Katie and Christina eat the meals Katie cooks (after complaining to Christina that all Rachel has in the refrigerator are bags of rotting apples) when she isn’t arguing on the phone with her teenaged daughter Tracy.
Their days are broken up by visiting hospice care workers Angel (Rudy Galvan), who tries to talk Katie off her DNR ledge, and Mirabella (Jasmine Bracey), who stays out of their business. An episode with dad’s breathing when neither is there sends Katie and Christina into a panic while Rachel stands aside looking traumatized, the three sharing nervous laughter when it proves a false alarm. But things will come to an ugly head when Katie tries to invite Rachel’s black boyfriend Benji (Jovan Adepo, “Fences,” “Overlord”) to join she and Christina for a meal and he gives her a piece of his mind, sticking up for the woman he loves by asking where they were while she was helping him in the bathroom and hand feeding him the apple slices he liked. Katie reacts poorly, demanding Benji leave. A screaming match ensues, Christina physically inserting herself between Katie and Rachel.
Realizing she’s crossed several lines, Katie attempts to apologize and gradually the three begin to talk, using the eulogy Katie’s been struggling with as common ground, each describing her relationship with their father. But the real miracle occurs after the women help their dad out of the bedroom and into his favorite chair in the living room.
Jacobs hasn’t made a very cinematic film, constrained as it is to a nondescript apartment and the brick building’s characterless courtyard. But he has written a deft and insightful work using one of life’s most difficult passages – the death of a parent – to bring out the best and worst of his characters, using such things as Vincent’s lease, presumably to a rent controlled apartment, to illustrate resentments lurking beneath the surface. His three stars are perfectly cast (it is particularly nice to see Olsen outside of the MCU) and create a vortex, at first distant, then pulling together. And if it is Katie and Rachel who are most at odds, in a magical bit of fantasy, O. Sanders reflects on his life, painting a picture of Christina as overlooked which allows everyone to see her more clearly.
Death can bring out the worst in a family and while “His Three Daughters” is extremely relatable from that perspective, it also illustrates how shared memories can bring us together. Jacobs’ film is a paean to empathy during life’s most stressful times.
Robin's Review: B+
Three sisters, long apart, have come together for the last days of their very ill father’s life. Kate (Carrie Coon) is the demanding controller, Christina (Elizabeth Olsen( the peacemaker and Rachel (Natasha Leone), their half sister, is a stoner and a sports gambler. There are lots of issues that must be settled between them before their dad’s end in “His Three Daughters.”
This family-centric tale of pending loss, by writer-director Azazel Jacobs, brings the three sisters, long-separated by life’s flow, together, probably for the last time. Their dad, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders), is very ill, hooked up to wires and tubes. His caretaker, Angel (Rudy Galvan), is there to ease Vincent’s passing and prepare the three women of what is to come.
What transpires is, essentially, a three-hander as the sisters must reacquaint to each other, with Rachel the “outsider” who is not blood related. This prejudice will come to play later several times as the issue of “family” is reinterpreted in the sisters’ minds.
Competition, resentment, affection, understanding and awakening are all elements that play out as the sisters lay their souls bare and the reality and strain of their father’s upcoming death takes hold. But, the story, while about dying, is really about life as the sisters grow to know each other in a way they never knew before. I like the life affirming tone, even as death looms. And, the finale knocked my socks off!
Netflix releases "His Three Daughters" in select theaters on 9/6/24. It begins streaming on 9/20/24.
