We Are Family
Main Cast: Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne
Director: Azazel Jacobs
I had His Three Daughters on my Netflix list for a long time. I definitely put it off. It’s a hard subject – siblings gathering to say goodbye to a dying parent. Some people bring their best selves, and others their worst. Many bring both.
And that’s where we meet His Three Daughters. Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen star as the daughters in question, each carrying a full burden of memories and experiences as they arrive at their ailing father’s Brooklyn apartment.
Coon is Katie, the know-it-all eldest who finds fault with everyone and everything. Olsen is Christina, the youngest who hides behind platitudes and stories of her young daughter. Lyonne’s literal red-headed stepchild, Rachel, has lived with their father throughout his illness. The women start with a façade of togetherness, one that crumbles as the tension of sharing the small space for the first time in decades begins to chafe. Insecurities and accusations bubble to the surface, bringing with them past hurts and misunderstandings.
His Three Daughters is an actors’ showcase. Writer/director Azazel Jacobs wrote the script for these actresses, leaning into their strengths and giving us characters that we don’t always like, mostly because they feel very real. Nearly every scene takes place in the apartment, which shows its age and the lives that have been lived there.
It’s easy to pick villains and victims in this family. The sisters act out the roles they have always played, leaning on their shared past in an uncertain and uncomfortable present. The script does a great job of slowly brushing aside those versions and offering a more nuanced picture of how families handle grief. There are enough moments of levity to offset the heavy subject matter and the performances are uniformly outstanding.
His Three Daughters is a very good movie. It is also a very hard movie, depending on where you are in your life. If you’ve been in a similar situation recently, you might want to give yourself some time before diving into someone else’s grief. I’m glad I put it off until I had enough distance to appreciate the deft portrayal of adult siblings facing a new chapter in their lives as a family.
Sue reads a lot, writes a lot, edits a lot, and loves a good craft. She was deemed “too picky” to proofread her children’s school papers and wears this as a badge of honor. She is also proud of her aggressively average knitting skills. TV and indie movies are her jam.
Leave a Reply