Acquired by Netflix out of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, His Three Daughters is one of several festival films with awards season aspirations that Netflix will be releasing this year. Fresh off a limited theatrical run, the film and its creators hope to continue to connect with audiences & critics alike when it hits the platform this weekend.
Set almost entirely in a small apartment in New York City, the story centers around, as the title suggests, three daughters coming together in the final days of their father’s life. Like many families, the sisters bring their own personal complicated past into the equation alongside the more obvious battles with grief at this stage of their father’s health. The film gives us a look into family dynamics at its hardest time, following them along for three volatile days of back-biting, in-fighting, & ultimately finding love and common ground while dealing with the impending loss hanging over them.
Written & Directed by Azazel Jacobs (French Exit), His Three Daughters is blessed with a mighty trio of actors tasked with carrying such a heartfelt and emotionally explosive narrative: Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, Gone Girl) as the high-strung, detail-oriented Katie, Elizabeth Olsen (The MCU’s Wanda Maximoff) as peacemaking people-pleaser Christina, & Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) as the independent-minded and constantly stoned Rachel who’s been living and taking care of their father for the past year.
The clashing of these very different people and their very different energies allows us all to explore the various family archetypes that force their hands in times of crisis and identify the many faces & stages of grief in the process of losing someone we love.
From the more dominating, mile-a-minute mouth of Katie, we get to witness someone who tries to avoid her feelings by keeping busy, taking on more than she can handle, & controlling the process as much as she can. She believes she can talk down to whoever gets in her path because she’s doing “everything” and only wants what’s in the best interest of her dying father.
In Rachel, we see a woman who’s been the under-appreciated, everyday caretaker for her father when no one wanted to do so. In the eyes of Katie, she’s just doing the bare minimum for a rent-controlled apartment in her name; But in reality, she’s doing her best out of love for the man who raised her when her biological father wanted no part. She’s a survivor who has always had to fight for her place in her unconventional family.
Finally, in Christina, we see the smile through the pain and the port in the storm. She’s the reluctant go-between for a tension that pre-dated her. While she may have a blood bond with Katie, she also wants more out of her relationship with Rachel outside of coming to her aid against Katie’s strong will & reluctance to let her in. She found love & community in the Deadheads and her soul in motherhood; things she may have not come upon easily in her own family.
The beauty of this film is in the collision of these well-developed characters & their backstories in a time when even the smallest of grievances can tear people apart. The chemistry, in tension and in harmony, is well constructed by Jacobs and his crew with a welcomed & well-earned conclusion. The use of an obituary as a means to determine how well you know someone and the use of something as simple as “someone’s chair” to feel their presence are some of the best storytelling devices Jacobs uses to bring even more humanity into this already rich philosophical & sociological examination.
While the film is firmly held up by its powerful lead performances, His Three Daughters also boasts a strong use of space & blocking in its cinematography to avoid the trappings of claustrophobic small space shooting locations and solid supporting performances that engage with the leads at critical times in the story. A great combination of both is the scene in which Benjy, played by Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers, Sorry For Your Loss), confronts Katie after she offers him food. The use of the hallway & conjoining room to illustrate his relationship to their father while giving enough space between them to allow Katie to stand up and charge him is a great use of big performances in small environments.
His Three Daughters. (L-R) Natasha Lyonne as Rachel and Elizabeth Olsen as Christina in His Three Daughters. Cr. Netflix ©2024.
The only detraction for this film is that the early moments of the story feel more rigid and monologue-heavy. Some of the initial interactions within the first act feel more like a filmed play than possibly intended, but obviously from what I’ve previously stated, these concerns quickly dissipate as the chemistry increases. Of course, part of this could be by design as the relationship is supposed to advance, but the level of talking past each other in conversation and the lack of reaction shots early on could possibly turn off casual viewers.
Overall, His Three Daughters is a tremendous kickoff to the heavy drama, award-centric season. With memorable performances from Coon, Olsen, & Lyonne and quality writing & direction from Azazel Jacobs, the film will stay with you in the best of ways. With so many different personalities & emotional complexities, it’s hard not to identify and relate with something from this film in your core.
Watch His Three Daughters On Netflix if You Like
- The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
- This Is Where I Leave You
- Big Fish
MVP of His Three Daughters
The Benjy Confrontation Scene
While many times I will give an actor or director their due in this section (and there were many to choose from), this time I’d like to champion a specific scene that changed the tenor of the movie for the better so much that it needs to be recognized.
At almost the 40-minute mark in the film, someone may think we know what this movie is: three sisters having their own individual experiences with the grieving process while getting a glimpse into a realistic portrayal of what the hospice home death system is like.
But then Katie offers food to Benjy and says “Well, nice meeting you”.
What transpires completely changes everything. Benjy stops in his tracks and comes back to the room with Katie & Christina. He tells her how they’ve met before, only a few months prior, and notes that it may have been the last time she was there, putting an emphasis on the lack of time she’s put in with her ailing father. He also regales them with how much he loved spending time with their father himself. But no matter what he said, Katie always tried to put her own sense of snark on her attempts at kindness.
But he continues in the best way. He sticks up for Rachel and puts Katie & Christina on notice. He gives the unsavory details of taking care of someone in his condition every day. He makes sure they know that he sees them for who they are and more importantly what they aren’t. Even after Benjy & Rachel leave when the temperature gets too hot, Benjy makes sure to say goodbye to Vincent and show respect to the people who matter.
This scene means everything to set up what’s to come. The trio of accomplished actors on the poster may get the headlines (and rightly so), but this scene with a supporting player out front changed everything I thought I knew about what this movie would say.
A family drama filled with so much tension, perspective, & character that handles the complex dynamics of siblings at the time of impending loss with such knowing compassion. Easily one of the best Netflix films of the year so far.
