Dramas about death are hard to get right, yet His Three Daughters handles the difficult topic with grace. Death is the singularly most tragic thing most people have to deal with in their lives, meaning that it’s far too simple to lean on it as a crutch to get emotional reactions from the audience. Writer/director Azazel Jacobs clearly understands that, crafting a marvelously authentic story about three sisters growing apart and coming back together in His Three Daughters.
His Three Daughters Review
Gone Girl and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire actress Carrie Coon leads as Katie, the oldest of the titular three daughters. She’s the ferocious and hard-headed one of the bunch, opening up the film by grumbling along with somebody on the phone about how her slacker sister Rachel (Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne) hasn’t gotten a “Do Not Resuscitate” form signed. The three sisters function in three very different ways. Rachel copes with her lazy life by lighting up a joint every fifteen minutes or so. Christina (WandaVision’s Elizabeth Oldsen), the youngest sister, is overbearing and constantly looking to help where she can. The three sisters cannot seem further apart from each other.
For most of the film, we watch as the mostly off-screen father slowly dies in a nearby room. It’s a talkative film, something that is driven by the performances of our three leads. Fortunately, it’s supported strongly by Jacobs’ script. The French Exit and The Lovers director is no stranger to offbeat dramedies, and his script here is excellent. He does a phenomenal job of crafting a realistic portrayal of the situation the sisters find themselves in, tapping into the weird intricacies of waiting for a loved one to die.
His Three Daughters serves as a wonderful acting showcase for its three leads. Natasha Lyonne, in particular, stands out because of her focus on comedy throughout her career. She plays a nuanced and pathetic middle-aged woman who just can’t seem to grow up. It’s a trope we’ve seen many times, but she plays it with a particular layer of sadness that really works. I’d call this the film’s best performance, but Elizabeth Olsen is certainly a strong contender for that, too.
Olsen and Coon have played nicely in plenty of dramatic roles already, and both bring their A-games here. Coon’s performance might be the weakest of the three, but it’s mostly the scripts fault for letting her down a little bit. Olsen and Lyonne’s roles both have more emotionally grabbing bits to get buzz online, whereas Coon plays a more nuanced role. All three roles share a few uncommon scenes that simply don’t work that well. Every so often, the script becomes a little overbearing, and the monologues delivered feel ham-fisted.
At a brisk 105 minutes, Jacobs keeps his film feeling fresh the whole way through. It’s easy to get lost in something like this if you have a short attention span, and he understands that. Most of the monologues are gripping, and each character is interesting enough to hold your attention the whole way through.
Towards the end, though, Jay O. Sanders comes in out of nowhere and completely steals the show. I’ll stray away from any spoilers here because his performance just needs to be seen to be believed, but after 90 minutes of phenomenal work from the three leading actresses, it almost seems like he gives the best bit of acting in the entire film.
Is His Three Daughters worth watching?
Film is such a lovely medium of art because it allows humans to express complicated ideas through every form of art. Dozens of films just like this come out every year, but each one presents its own perspective on grief, death, and family. Jacobs tells a particularly interesting story, and that’s worth celebrating. With three stellar leading performances and one of the best recent supporting roles, His Three Daughters is an uncommonly touching film, a brilliant addition to Netflix’s catalog, and something very worthy of a watch.
His Three Daughters Review — Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne are Brilliant in Touching Drama
His Three Daughters tells an authentic and touching story of three women brought together by their father’s eminent death. Led by a never-better trio of Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne, Azazel Jacobs’ latest film is a true knockout. It’s easy for a film about death to seem contrived, but fortunately, this avoids all of that and manages to be a mighty emotional journey.
