150 Word Review: 'His Three Daughters' (2024)
150 Word Review: 'His Three Daughters' (2024)
Lord, help the mister
The three sisters in writer/director Azazel Jacobs's domestic chamber drama His Three Daughters are all very different—Katie is controlling and combative, Christina is a fragile new mom, and half-sibling Rachel is an eye-rolling stoner. These characters are well-observed if broadly drawn, but the actors step in to give each sibling unique quirks and dark corners. As Katie, Carrie Coon is a clenched fist, and Elizabeth Olsen's Christina teeters. Natasha Lyonne surprises as Rachel; I underestimated her. Rachel's strength is quiet, cat-like.
This is a modest portrait of a blended family in crisis, a tug-of-war between kin at the foot of a beloved father's deathbed. Old still wounds burn, and grief is an accelerant. I'm not the first to suggest His Three Daughters would make an excellent stage play, but in my opinion, that is a high compliment. This is a twist on King Lear, only everyone loves Dad.