'His Three Daughters' Review
“His Three Daughters” stars Carrie Coon as Katie, Elizabeth Olsen as Christina and Natasha Lyonne as Rachel. They are three sisters who have their father in hospice care in a New York City apartment. He’s dying, and they’re there for the end. They’re told by the hospice care workers (who are named Angel and Mirabella, both with some significance) that the end is near and that all affairs should be in order.
Rachel has been living in that apartment (with some boyfriends who have come through) for a while now. She’s been taking care of dad. She’s not really interested in opening the door to the other room and seeing her father in this condition. Lyonne gives the best (though still far from a perfect) performance of the three leading ladies. When Katie and Christina show-up, they’ve got a lot to say. Coon and Olsen’s rapid-fire dialogue is delivered like it’s out of a ’40s Film Noir. It adds to the rather annoying feeling of being trapped in this apartment with these characters.
I was hoping “His Three Daughters” could offer some new perspective on this very difficult experience for a lot of people. I wish that we weren’t being told the points that writer/director Azazel Jacobs wants to make… that instead we could discover them ourselves. There are a few strong scenes — including one with Rachel’s current boyfriend Benji, played by Jovan Adepo — before we get to a final act that goes off the rails. Like Jacobs’ 2021 Michelle Pfeiffer film “French Exit”, the story spirals out of control beginning at the half-hour mark, truly freefalling, unable to recover.
Audience reaction to the final section will be very interesting because Jacobs takes some fantastical chances, breaking moviemaking and common sense rules. For me, it doesn’t work at all.
